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.
Published Version
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