The preventative effect of pyridine on stress ulcers: a microvascular and morphological study.

The effect of pyridine in the prevention of cold restraint-induced stress ulcers in rats was investigated. After fasting, rats were administered the appropriate dosage of pyridine and were promptly placed into stress cages for cold room stress. The rats were sacrificed and bleeding, ulceration and vascular patency were examined. At doses of 0.01 mg/kg and 0.20 mg/kg, pyridine significantly decreased the amount of gastric hemorrhage and ulceration (p less than 0.01), as compared with the controls. In addition, microvascular dye, injected after stress, revealed perfused mucosal capillaries in the pyridine group, and occlusion of mucosal capillaries in the control group. These results suggest that the antiplatelet effect of pyridine reduced thrombus formation in the mucosal capillaries with subsequent reduction in mucosal ulceration.