The effects of destruction of noradrenergic ascending ventral bundles and tetrabenazine on formation of stress-induced gastric ulcer.

The possibility that hypothalamic noradrenaline (NA) plays a role in the formation of gastric ulcers under stress via ventral bundles (VB) was examined in rats after bilateral destruction of VB. After a 3-h restraint stress ulcerative changes were observed in the stomach of sham-operated rats. NA contents in the hypothalamus and cerebral cortex decreased as compared to the respective contents before stress. The VB-lesioning inhibited the stress-induced decrease of NA in the hypothalamus. Ulcer indices in the animals 1 or 7 days after the VB-lesioning, however, did not differ from those of controls. Pretreatment of sham-operated controls with tetrabenazine enhanced the stress-induced decrease of NA in the brain, and exacerbated the gastric ulceration. VB-lesioning completely blocked these effects of tetrabenazine. It appears that the tetrabenazine-induced mobilization of hypothalamic NA via VB causes an aggravation of gastric ulceration.