Vol. 274, Issue 6, F1102-F1108, June 1998
Decreased endothelial nitric oxide synthase in gastric mucosa
of rats with chronic renal failure
M.
Tomikawa,
M.
Ohta,
N. D.
Vaziri,
J. D.
Kaunitz,
R.
Itani,
Z.
Ni, and
A. S.
Tarnawski
Department of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Long Beach,
California 90822; University of California, Irvine, California;
Department of Surgery II, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-0054, Japan; and Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles, California and
the University of California, Los Angeles, California 90073
According to recent reports, chronic renal failure (CRF)
increases the susceptibility of gastric mucosa to injury. Since nitric oxide plays a major role in gastric mucosal defense and injury, we
investigated, in rats with CRF produced by five-sixths nephrectomy and
in control rats, the expression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the
stomach and measured mucosal and submucosal gastric blood flow. In CRF
rats, gastric mucosal blood flow was significantly reduced compared
with control rats, whereas submucosal and serosal blood flow was
significantly increased. CRF significantly decreased endothelial NOS
(eNOS) mRNA abundance by 53% (P < 0.01) and reduced expression of eNOS protein by 42%
(P < 0.01) compared with
the controls. Enzyme activity of eNOS was significantly reduced in gastric mucosa of CRF rats (P < 0.05). These data are consistent with reduced gastric mucosal blood
flow in CRF rats and can explain altered susceptibility of gastric
mucosa to injury in CRF rats.
gastric mucosal blood flow; mucosal injury
