This Article Order Full text via Infotrieve Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Galli, S. J. Articles by Szabo, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Galli, S. J. Articles by Szabo, S.

American Journal of Pathology, Vol 128, 131-140, Copyright © 1987 by American Society for Investigative Pathology

REGULAR ARTICLES

Ethanol-induced acute gastric injury in mast cell-deficient and congenic normal mice. Evidence that mast cells can augment the area of damage

SJ Galli, BK Wershil, R Bose, PA Walker and S Szabo

The authors used stereomicroscopy and planimetry to measure the area of glandular stomach mucosa acutely injured by oral ethanol in mast cell- deficient and congenic normal (+/+) mice, and examined the damaged areas in 1-mu sections. Ethanol caused degranulation and/or disruption of gastric mucosal mast cells, and, at certain concentrations of ethanol, mast cell-deficient WBB6F1-W/Wv or WCB6F1-Sl/Sld mice developed significantly less (43-90% less) acute gastric injury than either congenic +/+ mice or WBB6F1-W/Wv mice whose mast cells were restored by bone marrow transplantation from WBB6F1-+/+ mice. Nevertheless, ethanol produced detectable, and in some cases substantial, gastric injury even in the complete absence of mast cells. Thus, ethanol can produce some damage to the gastric mucosa independently of mast cells. But these data suggest that under certain circumstances mast cells can augment the area of acute gastric injury induced by ethanol.