[Neutral-red clearance technique for measuring gastric mucosal blood flow in the rat (author's transl)]

A neutral red (NR) clearance technique was described for measuring gastric mucosal blood flow in the rat. It is easily carried out, well reproducible and shows good correlation to results measured by other techniques. Our results suggest that the measurement of the neutral red clearance is directly related to the gastric mucosal blood flow. During the basal secretion, a mucosal blood flow of 0.1 ml-min-1 was measured in the anaesthetized stomach-perfused rat. Gastric mucosal blood flow (GMBF) increased up to 0.25 ml min-1 during a submaximal pentagastrin stimulation. In regard to the inhibition of acid secretion on ID50 of 2.04 micromol kg-1 i.v. was found for cimetidine. A dose of 2.54 micromol kg-1 i.v. of cimetidine halved the pentagastrin-induced increase of GMBF. Vasodilators increased the mucosal blood flow without influencing acid secretion.