# New England Gastropareis Consortium: Neurobiology of Gastroparesis

> **NIH NIH U01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2020 · $150,000

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
 Gastroparesis (GP) is defined as delayed gastric emptying in the absence of a
gross structural abnormality with the symptoms chronic nausea and vomiting, early
satiety, postprandial fullness, and abdominal distention. Pain or discomfort is frequently
associated. A factor associated with improvement was anti-depressant use and factors
associated with no symptom reduction included use of pain modulators, moderate to
severe abdominal pain, and moderate to severe depression. The common theme of poor
prognosis are factors which may arise from pathology that exist beyond just enteric
motor function despite the fact that gastroparesis is indeed initially defined as an enteric
motor disorder. Although the causes of gastroparesis can be multi-factorial, when the
disease becomes chronic and the severity of the symptoms result in a high impact on
Quality of Life (QOL), complex pathologies may begin to evolve in the enteric and central
nervous system beyond just motor abnormalities contributing to other sensory defects.
The neurobiology of these other factors needs to be explored further so that these
insights can be translated into meaningful increases in treatment success in the
moderate to severe gastroparetic patients. To accomplish these goals, we propose to
create an additional site with the New England Gastroparesis Collaborative to join the
NIH GR. The multi-center network will help recruit to our proposal to explore the
peripheral and central neurobiology of gastroparesis and as well as help to conduct a
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) intervention to target these challenging pathologies.
We plan to explore the relationships with gastroparesis symptoms, clinical co-
comorbidities such as pain, depression, anxiety and catastrophization, and other GI
physiological testing such as gastric emptying scitigraphy (GES), Wireless Motility
Capsule (WMC), Electrogastrography (EGG) and Liquid Meal Satiety Drink Tests (SDT).
We will perform a placebo controlled CBT trial in GP to examine the non-
pharmacological impact of this treatment option on gastroparesis symptoms and the
other clinical co-comorbidities such as pain, depression, anxiety and catastrophization. A
subset of the CBT trial patients will undergo careful phenotyping pre/post intervention
with brain MRI, AFT, and other GI physiological testing: GES, WMC, EGG and SDT to
determine the impact of CBT on these physiologies. Characterization of these
relationships or lack thereof can help guide future development of more targeted
effective approaches in gastroparesis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10240954
- **Project number:** 3U01DK112193-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Braden Kuo
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $150,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10240954

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10240954, New England Gastropareis Consortium: Neurobiology of Gastroparesis (3U01DK112193-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10240954. Licensed CC0.

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