Migrating motor complex in biological sciences: Characterization, animal models and disturbances

The migrating motor complex (MMC) occurs in most mammals and birds and is organized during the fetal life. In some species, like ruminants and other herbivores, it is not abolished by feeding but its character and controlling mechanisms do not vary considerably from other animal species. However, the mechanisms controlling the MMC are complex and incompletely recognized. The central nervous system exerts rather modulatory effects upon the MMC and the role of the enteric nervous system in the initiation and propagation of the MMC is crucial. The hormones appear mainly to disrupt and convert the MMC cycle into the fed pattern. Several types of the disturbances of the MMC cycle and its phases have been described in various pathophysiological conditions. However, it can be more suitable to identify and describe the given MMC abnormality than to establish the rules of the MMC behavior in the course of the gastrointestinal diseases.