The Magenstrasse (stomach road) describes the fast emptying of ingested liquids from the postprandial stomach. The occurrence of the Magenstrasse has great importance for drugs administered together with food as it represents a shortcut through the fed stomach and allows rapid onset of plasma levels. In this study, we investigated the effect of different meals and their texture and fat content on the occurrence of the Magenstrasse. Since the administration of water is common 60 min after drug intake in clinical trials, we also investigated the effect of time point of water administration on the Magenstrasse by a second water administration. The texture of solid meals and a higher amount of solid food components turned out to favor the presence of the Magenstrasse. On the other hand, the effect of fat content of the meals was negligible. Additionally, the gastric emptying of water was comparable between the first and the second (60 min later) fluid administration, which could lead to an entrainment of drug substance. So far, the Magenstrasse is proven for water; an investigation of other liquid vehicles might be interesting for further mechanistic understanding and utilization. It turned out that the phenomenon of the Magenstrasse can also occur at later time points in clinical studies and may have great impact on the pharmacokinetic profiles obtained in these studies.
Keywords: Magenstrasse; fed stomach; food effect; gastric emptying; gastrointestinal hydrodynamics; magnetic resonance imaging; stomach road.