title: Calcium and ethanol-induced gastric mucosal damage in rats.
abstract: The effects of graded doses of ethanol on stomach mucosal damage and calcium levels were studied in rats. The influence of verapamil and/or calcium chloride on these changes was also investigated. Orally administered ethanol (20, 50 or 80% v/v) markedly decreased gastric glandular tissue calcium and it concentration dependently produced mucosal lesions. Pretreatment with verapamil (2.5 or 5 mg/kg, i.p.) dose dependently lessened glandular wall calcium levels and worsened ethanol-induced mucosal damage. Calcium chloride (50 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly prevented ethanol-induced gastric calcium depletion; it also dose dependently antagonized the damaging effect of ethanol as well as the lesion-intensifying action of verapamil. The findings that verapamil potentiated, whereas calcium chloride prevented, ethanol-induced glandular mucosal damage and tissue calcium changes indeed suggest that altered gastric cell calcium levels could be closely related to the mucosal lesions produced by ethanol in rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Ogle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000431:Ethanol; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000139:chemically induced*; D014700:Verapamil / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol; D014700:Verapamil; D002118:Calcium