title: Influence of portal hypertension on secretion of gastric mucus in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the effect of portal hypertension on gastric adherent and soluble mucus in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Experimental study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Teaching hospital, Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  30 male Wistar rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Portal hypertension was induced experimentally by partial ligation of the portal vein in 20 male Wistar rats: ten rats were examined after 4 weeks and the remaining 10 after 8. Another group of 10 rats (controls) had sham operations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Portal pressure, the severity of gross gastric mucosal lesions, and measurement of gastric adherent and soluble mucus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The portal pressure and the gross mucosal damage differed significantly between the experimental and the control groups (p < 0.01). There was significantly less gastric adherent mucus in the two experimental groups than in the control group (p = 0.002 and <0.001, respectively), whereas there was no significant differences in the amount of gastric soluble mucus (p = 0.5 and 0.1, respectively). The reduction in the gastric adherent mucus was closely related to the increase in portal pressure (p < 0.001) and the severity of portal hypertension-induced gastropathy (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gastric adherent mucus may have an important role in the pathogenesis of portal hypertensive gastropathy, and its protective capacity is reduced by portal hypertension, as indicated by the decrease in gastric adherent mucus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan.
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D006975:Hypertension, Portal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D009093:Mucus / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar