title: Protective effect of sucralfate against aspirin-induced damage to the human gastric mucosa.
abstract: Sucralfate, an agent that heals peptic ulcers in humans, has been shown to reduce aspirin-induced gastric mucosal damage in experimental animals. It has been suggested that the protective effect of sucralfate is due to stimulation of local prostaglandin production. The purpose of this study was to establish whether sucralfate was capable of reducing aspirin-induced gastric damage in humans. The effect of 1 g of sucralfate or identical placebo was studied in random order in eight healthy subjects. To determine if the effect of sucralfate was related to local prostaglandin synthesis, a second series of studies was performed in which prostaglandin production was inhibited with indomethacin 50 mg given orally eight hours before sucralfate. In each subject, all studies were performed at least one week apart. Following an overnight fast, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed, with sucralfate or placebo given orally 30 minutes before ingestion of 1,200 mg of soluble aspirin in 50 ml of water. Both endoscopist and subject were unaware of the test agent. Ninety minutes after aspirin ingestion, endoscopy was again performed and gastric mucosal lesions were counted and graded to derive an erosion score. Results are expressed as mean +/- SEM. Aspirin produced endoscopic changes (score of 2.75 +/- 0.49) that were significantly (p less than 0.05) inhibited by sucralfate (score of 1.13 +/- 0.44). The protective effect of sucralfate was abolished by pretreatment with indomethacin (scores of 2.88 +/- 0.55 and 1.88 +/- 0.40, respectively). These results demonstrate that sucralfate significantly protects the human gastric mucosa against the acute damaging effects of aspirin. This effect is abolished by indomethacin, suggesting that the protective action of sucralfate on the gastric mucosa of humans may be related to stimulation of endogenous prostaglandins.
authors: Monash University Department of Medicine, Prince Henry's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
authors: A I
authors: AI
authors: Stern
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Ward
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Hartley
mesh_terms: D001241:Aspirin / Q000633:toxicity*; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D004347:Drug Interactions; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D005773:Gastroscopy; D006801:Humans; D007213:Indomethacin / Q000494:pharmacology; D011897:Random Allocation; D013392:Sucralfate / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D013392:Sucralfate; D001241:Aspirin; D007213:Indomethacin