Role of gastric acid secretion and blood flow in the development of vagal stimulation induced gastric mucosal damage.

Vagal stimulation has been shown to result in the development of gastric mucosal erosions in the rat, although the mechanisms underlying the development of such erosions are not known. The effects of vagal stimulation on gastric acid secretion and mucosal blood flow were examined in urethane-anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats to determine whether changes in these factors correlate with the mucosal damage in response to vagal stimulation. Electrical stimulation (5 Hz, 5 V, 1 ms for 60 min) of afferent or efferent components of the vagi was not found to induce any significant increase in the mean acid secretory rate compared with control animals (p > 0.05). In contrast, stimulation of intact vagus nerves induced a significant increase in the mean acid secretory rate compared with control and efferent- and afferent-stimulated groups (p < 0.01). Measurement of gastric blood flow with laser-Doppler flowmetry demonstrated intact vagal stimulation to have no significant effect on gastric blood flow. These data suggest that such vagal stimulation induced increases in acid secretion in urethane-anesthetized animals may represent a part of the integrated physiological response to such stimulation which leads to the development of gastric mucosal erosions within 60 min. Pretreatment with antisecretory agents such as cimetidine and interleukin-1 beta significantly reduce the gastric mucosal injury compared with untreated animals (p < 0.05), emphasizing the important role of acid secretion in the development of vagal-induced gastric damage.