Effects of bile acid and salicylate on isolated surface and glandular cells of rabbit stomach.

Little is known about the response of surface cells and glandular cells of the gastric mucosa to various injurious agents. This study examines the effects of bile acid and salicylate on oxygen consumption and membraneolysis of isolated gastric mucosal surface cells and compares these responses to those of cells constituting the gastric glands. The effects of salicylate and bile acid on oxygen consumption by surface cells are similar to previous observations for intact gastric glands and isolated mitochondria, indicating alterations of oxidative phosphorylation. Salicylate does not appreciably alter lipid release from either surface or glandular cells. However, bile acid causes a profound increase in lipid release from both surface and glandular cells. Salicylate does not alter the number of visibly intact surface or glandular cells, but 1 mM of taurocholic acid decreases the number of surface cells by 45% without altering the glandular cells. In contrast, 5 mM of taurocholic acid completely destroys the surface cells and reduces the number of gastric glandular cells by 51%. These data suggest that surface cells are more susceptible to membraneolytic effects of bile acid than are gastric glandular cells. This may account for the superficial nature of bile acid-induced injury to the gastric mucosa. Although both bile acid and salicylate interfere with oxidative metabolism, this effect alone does not appear to account for cellular destruction.