GLP-1 receptor agonists have emerged as important medications to treat obesity, as well as a range of obesity-related cardiovascular and metabolic conditions. An unintended consequence for patients taking these drugs is the observation that they may still have a full stomach when they come for anaesthesia, despite following a recommended six hour fast. Pulmonary aspiration by regurgitation of stomach contents is a leading cause of anaesthetic-related harm. In a normal stomach, emptying is partially coordinated by slow electrical waves initiated from a dominant pacemaker site -the gastric pacemaker. Abnormal, chaotic, slow-wave electrical activity has been connected to stomach motility disorders including gastroparesis where the stomach muscle is paralysed or very weak. Erythromycin is a common antibiotic which is suggested as potentially helping the stomach empty before anaesthesia. We will use a pig model to undertake high-resolution electrical signal mapping of pigs taking the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide (Ozempic or Wegovy), to see how it impacts the gastric pacemaker and stomach electrophysiology and then how erythromycin counters these changes.
Dr Kate Goldstone, Dr Amy Gaskell, Dr Nicola Whittle, Waikato Hospital, Professor Leo Cheng, Auckland Bioengineering Institute, Dr Logan Voss Health New Zealand Waikato Hospital.
The project was awarded A$70,000 funding through the ANZCA research grants program for 2026.