Ultrastructure of inhibited parietal cells in the rat

In acutely vagotomized rats, gastric acid secretion was stimulated with a combination of carbachol and pentagastrin, and/or inhibited with picoprazole, cimetidine, or l-hyoscyamine. The animals were killed 1 or 3 h later. Using stereologic electron microscopic methods, the relative area of the secretory surface in the parietal cells and the mean size of these cells were estimated. The parietal cells in the superficial quarter of the oxyntic mucosa were larger than those at deeper levels of the mucosa. Moreover, the secretory surface was proportionally larger in the superficial cells than in the deep cells. Stimulation by carbachol and pentagastrin produced an increase in the secretory surface area. Inhibition of stimulated acid secretion by l-hyoscyamine reduced the secretory surface to the level of the unstimulated controls. Cimetidine, given at doses that inhibited stimulated acid secretion, did not alter the mean size of the secretory membrane. After inhibition by picoprazole, stimulated acid secretion was abolished, but the secretory membrane became significantly larger than after cimetidine inhibition. These divergent patterns of morphologic reactions probably reflect the different mechanisms of inhibition at the cellular level.