The occurrence of gastric lesions in rats, and their possible relation to dietary deficiency

Abstract

In examining the gastro-intestinal tract of rats which were being used for other experiments our attention was directed to the frequent occurrence of lesions in the rumen or esophageal portion of the stomach. These lesions, in brief, consisted of an inflammatory edema of the mucosa and submucosa, with marked cellular reaction, and in most cases, localized ulceration. Associated with these inflammatory changes there was always present more or less epithelial hyperplasia. These lesions were situated by preference near the elevated ridge which divides the rumen from the glandular portion of the rat's stomach.A relation of the lesions to dietary factors is strongly suggested in the following table:It is seen from the above figures that none of the 43 rats on complete diets showed gastric lesions; whereas of 36 rats on variously deficient regimens lesions were present in 20, or approximately 55 per cent. It seems justifiable to infer that the occurrence of the lesions is in some way determined by the diet. We ...