Abstract: Objective: To explore the clinical significance of gastrointestinal hormone secretion in premature infants and premature infants with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage(HIBD), and to observe the therapeutic effect of erythromycin in small doses on premature infants with a feeding intolerance. Methods: Fifty premature infants including 23 with HIBD and 27 without HIBD (18 of the 27 with a feeding intolerance) were enrolled in this study. Twenty normal newborns were the control. The plasma motilin and serum gastrin levels were determined by radioimmmunoassay (RIA). The 12 infants with a feeding intolerance were subjected to 3-5mg/(kg·d)erythromycin. Results: ① Compared with the control and the premature infants without HIBD group, the blood MTL and GAS levels of premature infants with HIBD were higher(P＜0.01 ) . ②The blood MTL and GAS levels of premature infants without HIBD were lower than those of the control group(P＜0.05). There was a significant difference between the premature infants with a feeding intolerance and the premature infants without a feeding tolerance (P＜0.05), while there were not significant differences between the premature infants without feeding intolerance and the control group (P＞0.05). ③The effect of erythromycin was significantly different between the interventional group and the control group (P＜0.05). Conclusions: Premature infants have abnormal secretions of plasma motilin and serum gastrin. The blood level of MTL and GAS has a relationship to feeding intolerance and erythromycin therapy has a good effect on premature infants with feeding intolerance.

Key words: Infant, premature, Motilin, Gastrins