[Effect of vagotomy, alpha-tocopherol and arachidene on lipid peroxidation in various areas of the gastroduodenal zone in rats with experimental peptic ulcer].

Lipid peroxidation (LPO) was investigated in the mucosa of different gastroduodenal areas in rats with ulcer. The animals were subject to various types of vagotomy and given various drugs. The ulcerogenic agent--cystamine--was shown to have a different degree effect on the activation of free radical reactions, most pronounced in duodenal mucosa. Selective proximal vagotomy was most effective in decreasing LPO activity, as compared to total and partial vagotomy. The use of an antioxidant--alpha-tocopherol, particularly its combination with arachidene, a preparation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, prevented the development of duodenal ulcer in 75% of cases and markedly decreased both ascorbate- and NADP X H-dependent LPO. It is suggested that LPO is directly involved in the pathogenesis of ulcer and that factors attenuating the process of LPO may prevent ulcerogenesis.