Reduced gastric surface mucus layer in experimental portal hypertension

The pathogenesis of portal hypertensive gastropathy has not yet been thoroughly elucidated. Changes in the gastric surface mucus layer in prehepatic portal hypertensive and cirrhotic rat models were studied by observing frozen sections fixed with formaldehyde vapor and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. We produced prehepatic portal hypertensive rats by partial ligation of the portal vein, and cirrhotic rats by prolonged administration of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and phenobarbital sodium. The thickness of the corporal and antral gastric surface mucus was significantly reduced in prehepatic portal hypertensive and cirrhotic rats compared with the values obtained in control rats for portal hypertension (subjected to sham operation) and control rats for cirrhosis (treated with phenobarbital but not CCl4). These results indicate that the hemodynamic changes associated with portal hypertension reduce the thickness of the gastric surface mucus layer and may be one of the causes of the gastropathy associated with portal hypertension.