Spontaneous autoimmune gastritis and hypochlorhydria are manifest in the ileitis-prone SAMP1/YitFcs mice.

SAMP1/YitFcs mice serve as a model of Crohn's disease, and we have used them to assess gastritis. Gastritis was compared in SAMP1/YitFcs, AKR, and C57BL/6 mice by histology, immunohistochemistry, and flow cytometry. Gastric acid secretion was measured in ligated stomachs, while anti-parietal cell antibodies were assayed by immunofluorescence and enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assay. SAMP1/YitFcs mice display a corpus-dominant, chronic gastritis with multifocal aggregates of mononuclear cells consisting of T and B lymphocytes. Relatively few aggregates were observed elsewhere in the stomach. The infiltrates in the oxyntic mucosa were associated with the loss of parietal cell mass. AKR mice, the founder strain of the SAMP1/YitFcs, also have gastritis, although they do not develop ileitis. Genetic studies using SAMP1/YitFcs-C57BL/6 congenic mice showed that the genetic regions regulating ileitis had comparable effects on gastritis. The majority of the cells in the aggregates expressed the T cell marker CD3 or the B cell marker B220. Adoptive transfer of SAMP1/YitFcs CD4(+) T helper cells, with or without B cells, into immunodeficient recipients induced a pangastritis and duodenitis. SAMP1/YitFcs and AKR mice manifest hypochlorhydria and anti-parietal cell antibodies. These data suggest that common genetic factors controlling gastroenteric disease in SAMP1/YitFcs mice regulate distinct pathogenic mechanisms causing inflammation in separate sites within the digestive tract.

Altered physiology of acid secretion in depression-prone Flinders rats results in exacerbated NSAID and stress-induced gastric damage.

BACKGROUND: Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rats are characterized by hypersensitivity to cholinergic stimuli and have been extensively used for studying depressive disorders. A link between depression and peptic ulcers has long been established; however, there is a lack of data from animal models. METHODS: We studied the physiology of acid secretion in FSL and Flinders Resistant Line (FRL) rats in vivo and in vitro. We also examined the susceptibility of Flinders rats to water immersion restraint stress (WIRS) or NSAID-induced gastric damage and explored the effect of an anticholinergic agent, atropine, in reversing this effect. KEY RESULTS: Basal acid output was more than twofold greater in FSL compared with FRL rats in vivo, 213.5 and 92.8 µEq/3 h/100 g (P = 0.02), respectively. Carbachol was a more potent secretagog in vitro, and somatostatin was a less potent inhibitory agent, while paradoxically stimulating acid secretion over and above the carbachol response in gastric glands from FSL rats. The FSL rats were more susceptible to indomethacin and WIRS-induced gastric mucosal damage compared with FRL rats. Atropine reduced acid output, which resulted in a reduction in indomethacin and stress-induced gastric damage in FSL rats. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: Our study, for the first time, demonstrates that the altered vagally mediated physiology of acid secretion in depression-prone FSL rats contributes to gastric hypersecretion and, consequently, results in exacerbated stress and NSAID-induced gastric damage. Flinders rats may be a useful animal model for studying acid-related and also gastrointestinal functional disorders in depression.

Effect of Th1 cytokines on acid secretion in pharmacologically characterised mouse gastric glands.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Acid secretion plays an important role in the ecology of Helicobacter species and acid secretory status heralds patterns of gastritis. The presence of inflammatory cells and their products, in close proximity to parietal cells, questions the extent of the effect of cytokines on acid secretion. METHODS: We adopted and extensively characterised the mouse gastric gland preparation and its secretory capacity, which was measured using (14)C-aminopyrine accumulation. Subsequently, we tested the secretory properties of a wide range of species specific cytokines, including those associated with Th1 and Th2 immune responses. RESULTS: (14)C-aminopyrine accumulation in mouse gastric glands was shown to be a very sensitive "in vitro" method of testing classical secretagogues and antisecretory compounds, and provided pharmacological data on acid secretion in the mouse. Only two mouse cytokines, interleukin 2 and interferon gamma, had a direct effect on acid secretion causing dose dependent inhibition. CONCLUSIONS: Both cytokines belong to the Th1 type immune response and consequently their inhibitory effect may play a role in the hyposecretion seen with H pylori infection and colonisation throughout the corpus of the stomach that potentially can lead to gastric atrophy and subsequently, in some cases, cancer.

Effect of purified lipopolysaccharides from strains of Helicobacter pylori and Helicobacter felis on acid secretion in mouse gastric glands in vitro.

As a bacterial product, Helicobacter pylori lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can originate in close proximity to parietal cells, but the role of this uniquely structured endotoxin on acid secretion has not been fully investigated and remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to test the direct effect of purified LPS (tested range, 0.1 to 100 microg/ml) from various strains of H. pylori and from one Helicobacter felis strain on histamine- and carbachol-stimulated acid secretion in vitro using mouse gastric glands and the accumulation of [(14)C]aminopyrine. In addition, we investigated whether H. pylori LPS can interfere with two native antisecretory substances, prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) and somatostatin, which may contribute to bacterial pathogenicity. Except for the LPS from H. pylori SS1 (Sydney strain), which gave a statistically significant increase in both histamine- and carbachol-stimulated acid output (38 and 24%, respectively; P < 0.05), no effect of the tested LPS was observed on acid secretion. H. pylori LPS purified from a patient isolate did not affect the potency or the efficacy of the inhibitory dose response curve to PGE(2) or somatostatin. Bacterial interstrain variation in the direct stimulatory effect of Helicobacter-derived LPS on acid secretion was observed, which probably reflects the molecular structure of LPS and the potential to contribute to virulence. Importantly, the data showed that H. pylori LPS did not have any direct antisecretory properties. It can be speculated that the acid stimulatory properties of LPS from H. pylori SS1 may contribute to the gastric damage observed in the mouse model of H. pylori infection.