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Relationship between ornithine decarboxylase activity and gastric damage
The American Journal of Physiology
|July 1, 1987
Summary
Hypertonic NaCl increases gastric mucosal ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and causes damage. ODC inhibition worsens NaCl-induced lesions, suggesting ODC aids recovery from gastric injury.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Molecular Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Hypertonic NaCl solutions are known to increase gastric mucosal ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity.
- Intragastric administration of concentrated NaCl induces ulcers in the glandular gastric mucosa.
- The precise relationship between ODC activity and gastric mucosal damage, and the role of ODC increases in hypertonic NaCl-treated rats, remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and gastric mucosal damage induced by hypertonic NaCl.
- To determine the significance of ODC increases in rats treated with hypertonic NaCl.
- To explore the role of ODC in the prevention of or recovery from gastric mucosal damage.
Main Methods:
- Rats were administered intragastrically with 3.4 M NaCl, aspirin in HCl, or ethanol after fasting.
- Oxyntic gland mucosa was collected to assay for ODC activity, DNA, RNA, and protein content.
- The effect of ODC inhibition using alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) on lesion severity and mucosal content was evaluated.
Main Results:
- 3.4 M NaCl decreased DNA, RNA, and protein content in the gastric mucosa, with greater decreases observed when ODC was inhibited by DFMO.
- Both aspirin and 3.4 M NaCl induced ODC activity 6 hours post-administration.
- DFMO exacerbated lesion index only in NaCl-treated rats, and ODC activity correlated with NaCl concentration, appearing to play a role in recovery from NaCl-induced damage.
Conclusions:
- ODC activation is not solely a consequence of tissue damage; in the case of NaCl, increasing damage leads to increased ODC.
- ODC appears to have a protective role in preventing or facilitating recovery from gastric mucosal damage induced by hypertonic NaCl.
- Ethanol-induced gastric damage did not affect ODC levels, and DFMO did not alter ethanol lesion severity, indicating a specific role for ODC in NaCl-induced injury.