Treatment of established taurocholate-induced chronic erosive gastritis in rats with cimetidine

The study investigated whether cimetidine could heal chronic erosive gastritis induced experimentally in rats by the administration of taurocholate for 6 months. Taurocholate gastritis is associated with mucosal erosions, the infiltration of inflammatory cells, reduction of the parietal cell mass, reduction of mucosal thickness, and interstitial fibrosis, a histopathological picture similar to that of human erosive gastritis. Microscopic quantitative morphological studies were used to determine the effect of cimetidine administered freely to rats for two weeks in the form of food containing 0.4 or 0.8% of the agent after the withdrawal of taurocholate. Basal acid secretion was analysed in rats with pyloric ligation 12 hours after withdrawal of the cimetidine-containing food. Basal gastrin levels were determined after a 12-hour fast by radioimmunoassay. The total length of the mucosal erosions was significantly decreased in the cimetidine-treated rats of Group A (cimetidine: 400 mg/kg/day: median 294.6 mm) and Group B (800 mg/kg/day; 225.7 mm) when compared to Group C (control gastritis group; 626.4 mm). Both the grade of inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrosis were also significantly reduced in Groups A and B compared with Group C. The number of parietal cells per unit area (A: 101.0, B: 108.8) and the mucosal thickness of the fundic mucosa (A: 0.610, B: 0.710) and of the antral mucosa (A: 0.220, B: 0.240) were greater in Groups A and B than in Group C (85.1 and 0.52 of the fundic mucosa, 0.170 of the antral mucosa, respectively). Basal acid secretion was significantly inhibited in Groups A and B (31.8 and 26.3 mu Eq/hr/100 g body weight, respectively) when compared to Group C (69.6 mu Eq/hr/100 g body weight). Basal serum gastrin levels were significantly higher in Groups A and B (198.1 and 210.5 pg/ml, respectively) than in Group C (98.7 pg/ml). It was concluded from these results that cimetidine had a curative effect on chronic erosive gastritis induced experimentally by taurocholate. The inhibition of acid and gastrin secretion may play an important role in the mechanism of its action.