Effect of acute and chronic alcohol feeding on prostaglandin E2 biosynthesis in rat stomach

The effect of acute and chronic alcohol ingestion on gastric prostaglandin E2 synthesis and the PGE2 content in the stomach was studied in rats. Up to 8 hr following a single oral load of 20% alcohol (v/v; 4 g/kg body weight), the PGE2 synthesis in isolated microsomes from rat stomach remained unchanged as compared with control values. Feeding a liquid alcohol-containing diet (37% of total Joules) for 1, 6, or 12 weeks significantly decreased the rate of PGE2 synthesis (percentage inhibition as compared with control values 39, 27, and 57, respectively). In addition, chronic alcohol feeding led to a drop in the tissue content of PGE2, the decrease being more pronounced after 6 (-49%) and 12 (-58%) weeks than after 1 week (-24%). The results suggest that the inhibition of endogenous PGE2 synthesis in the stomach following ingestion of appreciable quantities of alcohol might play a role in the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced injury of the gastric mucosa.