Gastric mucosal repair in the cat: role of the hyperemic response to mucosal damage.

This study concerns the significance for the mucosal repair process of the gastric mucosal hyperemic response after mucosal damage caused by 2 M NaCl. Celiac artery blood flow was measured by Doppler ultrasound and stomach arterial inflow was either left undisturbed or reduced in a controllable fashion by tightening a vessel loop around the celiac artery immediately after mucosal exposure to 2 M NaCl or 150 mM NaCl. The stomach lumen was perfused with saline at pH 1.00 before and after exposure to 2 M NaCl. Gastric mucosal blood flow increased after exposure to 2 M NaCl, and 90 min after mucosal exposure to 2 M NaCl the mucosal surface showed nearly complete restitution of the surface epithelium. In all animals in which mucosal hyperemia was restricted by reducing celiac artery blood flow by 60% after mucosal damage, extensive gastric erosions were present. Similar reduction of celiac artery blood flow in control animals without mucosal damage did not produce visible lesions, and the stomachs proved to be normal by microscopy. These findings show that the gastric mucosal hyperemic response after damage is important for protection of the damaged mucosa during restitution of the gastric surface epithelium.