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Migrating motor complex
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<p>Migrating motor complex, also known as migrating myoelectric complex, migratory motor complex, migratory myoelectric complex and MMC, is a cyclic, recurring motility pattern that occurs in the stomach and small bowel during <a href="/facts/Fasting/mL2xf6C1">fasting</a>; it is interrupted by <a href="/facts/Feeding/Vtf2gffc">feeding</a>. A pattern of electrical activity is also observed in the <a href="/facts/Gastrointestinal_tract/nK2zwqBS">gastrointestinal tract</a> in a regular cycle during this interdigestive period. </p><p>MMC was discovered and characterized in fasting dogs in 1969 by Joseph H. Szurszewski at the <a href="/facts/Mayo_Clinic/QQbLLJza">Mayo Clinic</a>. He also showed that this activity stops upon eating a meal, and suggested that it induces a motor activity that acts as an "interdigestive housekeeper" in the small intestine. These motor complexes trigger <a href="/facts/Peristalsis/R6zzQb1d">peristaltic waves</a>, which facilitate transportation of indigestible substances such as <a href="/facts/Bone/kwJaR6IQ">bone</a>, <a href="/facts/Dietary_fiber/Q9DXanDv">fiber</a>, and <a href="/facts/Foreign_body/T1u8fIwH">foreign bodies</a> from the <a href="/facts/Stomach/Q4PPDGT6">stomach</a>, through the <a href="/facts/Small_intestine/1AQ8RJ4m">small intestine</a>, past the <a href="/facts/Ileocecal_sphincter/gFp1QLwa">ileocecal sphincter</a>, and into the <a href="/facts/Large_intestine/vQtlNBv9">colon</a>. MMC activity varies widely across individuals and within an individual when measured on different days. The MMC occurs every 90–230 minutes during the interdigestive phase (i.e., between meals) and is responsible for the <a href="/facts/Borborygmus/GkToXILT">rumbling</a> experienced when hungry. It also serves to transport <a href="/facts/Bacteria/wC8xSCsU">bacteria</a> from the small intestine to the large intestine and to inhibit the migration of colonic bacteria into the <a href="/facts/Ileum/rCWGkFuf">terminal ileum</a>; an impairment to the MMC typically results in <a href="/facts/Small_intestinal_bacterial_overgrowth/mJEC29TI">small intestinal bacterial overgrowth</a>. </p>