Effect of long-term sucralfate ingestion on antral and fundic epithelial proliferation in the rat

Sucralfate accelerates the healing of chronic gastric ulcers, but its mechanism is not well understood. We studied the effect of long-term administration of sucralfate on gastric epithelial proliferation in the rat by means of tritiated thymidine autoradiography. Rats were treated perorally with 500 mg/kg sucralfate once a day. After 28 days, rats were injected with tritiated thymidine 1 microCi/g body weight and sacrificed 1 hr later. Autoradiographs from antral and fundic mucosae were prepared and a number of proliferative measurements were made. Long-term sucralfate administration produced an increase in tritiated thymidine labeling of epithelial cells and expansion of the proliferative zone in antral mucosa. These results indicate that long-term sucralfate ingestion stimulates gastric antral epithelial proliferation in the rat. In light of the fact that chronic gastric ulcers are usually located in the antral region in humans, this enhanced epithelial proliferation may contribute to the beneficial effect of sucralfate in accelerating the healing of gastric ulcers.