Body fat reserves attenuate gastric ulcers induced by restricted feeding in rats

The purpose of this experiment was to explicitly test the hypothesis that the depletion of fat reserves is a critical factor in the generation of ulcers in the glandular stomach. Fat reserves were systematically manipulated by using chow vs. high-fat diets and by using rats of different ages (3, 7, and 17 months). The ulcerogenic procedure consisted of limiting food intake to 6 g of chow per day. For chow-fed rats, 20 days were required to induce ulcers in 3-month-old rats whereas more than 40 days were required in 7- and 17-month-old rats. In 7-month-old rats fed a high-fat diet, the ulcerogenic phase lasted 63 days. Virtually no ulcers were found in control groups with larger body weights that were yoked to the duration of the ulcerogenic phase. Measurement of retroperitoneal and epididymal fat pads indicated that these were nearly depleted in rats with ulcers whereas some fat remained in ulcer-free rats, regardless of age, diet, or the duration of the ulcerogenic phase. These results suggest that the depletion of fat reserves to a critical level triggers a metabolic stress response that then produces gastric ulcers.