Factors influencing the indomethacin-induced intestinal lesions in the rat.

The influence of various experimental conditions such as partial hepatectomy, administration of hepatotoxic drugs such as carbontetrachloride or ethionine, and starvation on the ulcerogenic activity of indomethacin at intestinal level has been studied in the rat. While lesions produced by oral administration of high doses of indomethacin are reduced by starvation, the incidence of ulcers was significantly increased by partial hepatectomy and by hepatotoxic drugs reaching the maximum of severity (intestinal perforation) in partially hepatectomized animals. These findings suggest that ulcerogenic activity of indomethacin is strictly correlated to the drug metabolising capacity of the liver.