Protective effect of sofalcone and 16,16-dimethyl-PGE2 on isolated rat gastric cells

The effects of 16,16-dimethylprostaglandin E2 (dm-PGE2) and sofalcone on damage caused by ethanol in surface epithelial cells isolated from rat stomach were examined. The surface epithelial cells (SECs) accounted for 83% of the isolated gastric mucosal cells, mucus neck cells for 5%, parietal cells for 9%, and chief cells for 3%. To suspensions of SEC, either dm-PGE2 at concentrations of 10(-7), 10(-6), or 10(-5) M or sofalcone at concentrations from 5 X 10(-6) to 10(-4) M was added; some cells were treated with neither drug. Ten minutes later, ethanol was added to each cell suspension to a final concentration of 15%, and 5 min later the viability was evaluated by trypan blue exclusion. At 10(-6) M, dm-PGE2 reduced ethanol-induced cell damage most strongly (p less than 0.001). Sofalcone also helped to prevent cell damage caused by ethanol in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that dm-PGE2 and sofalcone protect gastric mucosa not only from gross visible damage but they directly protect gastric cells from damage.