[Effect of the lateral hypothalamic area-lesions on the development of gastric mucosal damages by water immersion restraint stress in rats].

The role of the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) in the development of gastric mucosal damages induced by water immersion restraint stress was evaluated in bilateral LHA-lesioned rats. The ulcer index of lesions (M +/- SEM, mm) was significantly higher in LHA-lesioned rats (21.6 +/- 2.8) than in both thalamus-lesioned rats (9.8 +/- 2.0) and non-treated rats (10.2 +/- 1.5). The gastric acid and pepsin outputs during water immersion for 5 hours were significantly lower in the LHA-lesioned rats than in both the control rats. In the LHA-lesioned rats, PAS-positive mucus content of gastric corpus without lesions was significantly decreased after water immersion restraint stress for 5 hours. All these results suggest that lateral hypothalamic area plays an important role in the process of stress ulcer formation mainly through the disturbance of mucosal defensive mechanism such as changes in gastric mucus contents.