Effect of enprostil and cimetidine on ethanol-induced damage to intestinal epithelial cell lines IRD 98 and IEC 17.

In addition to their inhibitory action on gastric acid secretion, prostaglandins may exert part of their protective effect on the gastrointestinal mucosa by specifically maintaining the cellular integrity of the intestinal epithelium. This in vitro study investigated the cytoprotective effect conferred on intestinal epithelial cell lines IRD 98 and IEC 17 against ethanol injury by the synthetic prostaglandin enprostil and compared effects with those of the histamine H2-receptor blocker cimetidine. Exposure to 3% ethanol (652 mM) reduced cell viability and increased the cAMP and membrane fluidity of both cell lines. Our results demonstrate that: (i) enprostil exerts a significant cytoprotective effect against damage by ethanol; (ii) cimetidine has no cytoprotective effect; (iii) IRD 98 cells are more sensitive to enprostil than IEC 17 cells.