title: [Camostat mesilate, a protease inhibitor, inhibits visceral sensitivity and spinal c-fos expression in rats with acute restraint stress].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To observe the effect of gut protease activity on visceral hypersensitivity in rats with acute restraint stress.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sprague-Dawley rats were given 30, 100 or 300 mg/kg camostat mesilate (CM), a protease inhibitor, or saline intragastrically 30 min before acute restraint stress induced by wrapping the fore shoulders, upper forelimbs and thoracic trunk for 2 h. Visceral perception of the rats was quantified as the visceral motor response with an electromyography, and the rectal mucosa and feces protease activity and spinal c-fos expression were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CM dose-dependently reduced visceral sensitization elicited by rectal distension, but these doses did not completely inhibit stress-induced visceral sensitization. In normal rats, c-fos expression was found mainly in the superal spinal cord dorsal horn, and after the administration the CM, c-fos-positive cells decreased significantly in all dose groups (P<0.05). In 30 mg/kg CM group, fecal and rectal mucosal protease activity significantly decreased as compared with that in the stress group (P<0.05), and as CM dose increased to 100 and 300 mg/kg, the protease activity decreased even further (P<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The gut protease is involved in acute stress-induced visceral hypersensitivity, and CM can lower the visceral sensitivity and spinal c-fos expression in rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710004, China.E-mail: juhuidoctor@126.com.
authors.forename: Juhui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Zongyan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Baicang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Yahua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004952:Esters; D016670:Gabexate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006146:Guanidines; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism*; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D004952:Esters; D006146:Guanidines; D011480:Protease Inhibitors; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; C034532:camostat; D016670:Gabexate