Vitamin B12 and a lyophilised extract of lamb gastric mucosa in the treatment of two digestive pathological models in the rat and the dog. Clinical and macroscopical observations.

A comparative experimentation between treatment with large amounts of vitamin B12 alone and associations of intrinsic factor with different concentrations of vitamin B12 in the gastrectomised dog and rat subjected to digestive stress induced by phenylbutazone is reported. This study served to examine the possible therapeutic role of vitamin B12 passive diffusion occurring with large amounts of cyanocobalamine in the digestive tract, and to verify the utility and efficacy of the intrinsic factor contained in the marketed Gastropylore, the composition of which associates an original lyophilisate of suckling lamb gastric mucosa (LLGM) with vitamin B12. Treatments with either of the components alone exerted no protective effect against phenylbutazone-induced ulcerations whereas Gastropylore gave very significant protection (p less than 0.00001). Enhancement of the vitamin did not yield any significant improvement. Weight increase after gastrectomy was clear in the three groups of animals treated with Gastropylore or LLGM containing vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 passive diffusion appears to play no important therapeutic role while the intrinsic factor contained in a lyophilised preparation of lamb gastric mucosa seems to prove useful.