Early life events and peptic ulcer susceptibility: an experimental model.

In the rat premature separation from the mother increases the probability that gastric erosions will occur when the animal is subjected to physical restraint later in life. This increased susceptibility to erosion formation is induced by the early loss of maternal milk and is expressed as a disturbance of body temperature regulation at the time of restraint. One of the gastric consequences of the thermoregulatory disturbance appears to be an increase in acid secretion during restraint. The increased susceptibility to restraint-induced erosion formation in prematurely separated rats may reflect a disruption of the normal developmental organization of functionally related systems.