Selective action of a CCK-B/gastrin receptor antagonist, S-0509, on pentagastrin-, peptone meal- and beer-stimulated gastric acid secretion in dogs. (49/1256)

BACKGROUND: The pharmacological effects of a novel CCK-B/gastrin receptor antagonist, S-0509, on gastric acid secretion in dogs remain unknown. AIM: To evaluate the antisecretory effects of S-0509 on gastric acid secretion and to compare such effects with famotidine or atropine in dogs stimulated with various gastric stimulants. METHODS: Ten beagle dogs with a denervated Heidenhain pouch and three beagle dogs with an innervated gastric fistula were used. Gastric acid secretion was stimulated by either continuous intravenous administration of pentagastrin, carbachol or histamine, or oral administration of a peptone meal or beer. RESULTS: In the Heidenhain pouch model, both intravenously administered and orally administered S-0509 significantly inhibited the gastric acid secretion stimulated by pentagastrin, peptone meal and beer. Nonetheless, the drug had little or no effect on carbachol-stimulated or histamine-stimulated acid secretion. Famotidine extensively inhibited all gastric acid secretion stimulated by the above stimulants in a non-selective manner. Atropine also significantly inhibited the acid secretion stimulated by pentagastrin, peptone meal, beer or carbachol, but was not able to inhibit stimulation due to histamine. Oral administration of peptone meal or beer significantly increased the plasma gastrin level. Similarly to the Heidenhain pouch model, even in the gastric fistula (GF) model, S-0509 significantly inhibited pentagastrin-stimulated gastric acid secretion, yet the drug had no effect on carbachol-stimulated secretion. CONCLUSIONS: S-0509 is a selective CCK-B/gastrin receptor antagonist in dogs that inhibits gastric acid secretion stimulated by pentagastrin and gastrin-releasing substances, but does not inhibit histamine-stimulated and carbachol-stimulated acid secretion.  (+info)

Stomachs of mice lacking the gastric H,K-ATPase alpha -subunit have achlorhydria, abnormal parietal cells, and ciliated metaplasia. (50/1256)

The H,K-ATPase of the gastric parietal cell is the most critical component of the ion transport system mediating acid secretion in the stomach. To study the requirement of this enzyme in the development, maintenance, and function of the gastric mucosa, we used gene targeting to prepare mice lacking the alpha-subunit. Homozygous mutant (Atp4a(-/-)) mice appeared healthy and exhibited normal systemic electrolyte and acid-base status but were achlorhydric and hypergastrinemic. Immunocytochemical, histological, and ultrastructural analyses of Atp4a(-/-) stomachs revealed the presence of chief cells, demonstrating that the lack of acid secretion does not interfere with their differentiation. Parietal cells were also present in normal numbers, and despite the absence of alpha-subunit mRNA and protein, the beta-subunit was expressed. However, Atp4a(-/-) parietal cells had dilated canaliculi and lacked typical canalicular microvilli and tubulovesicles, and subsets of these cells contained abnormal mitochondria and/or massive glycogen stores. Stomachs of adult Atp4a(-/-) mice exhibited metaplasia, which included the presence of ciliated cells. We conclude that ablation of the H,K-ATPase alpha-subunit causes achlorhydria and hypergastrinemia, severe perturbations in the secretory membranes of the parietal cell, and metaplasia of the gastric mucosa; however, the absence of the pump appears not to perturb parietal cell viability or chief cell differentiation.  (+info)

The role of hiatus hernia in GERD. (51/1256)

Increased esophageal acid exposure in gastroesophageal reflux disease has several potential causes, some related primarily to physiological dysfunction of the LES and others related to anatomic distortion of the gastroesophageal junction as occurs with hiatus hernia. One attractive feature of implicating hiatal hernias in the pathogenesis of reflux disease is that, like reflux disease, axial hernias become more common with age and obesity. However, the importance of hiatus hernia is obscured by imprecise definition and an all-or-none conceptualization that has led to wide variation in estimates of prevalence among normal or diseased populations. There are at least three potentially significant radiographic features of a hiatus hernia: axial length during distention, axial length at rest, and competence of the diaphragmatic hiatus. Although any or all of these features may be abnormal in a particular instance of hiatus hernia, each is of different functional significance. Grouping all abnormalities of the gastroesophageal junction as "hiatus hernia" without detailing the specifics of each case defies logic. Mechanistically, the gastroesophageal junction must protect against reflux both in static and dynamic conditions. During abrupt increases in intra-abdominal pressure, the crural diaphragm normally serves as a "second sphincter," and this mechanism is substantially impaired in individuals with a gaping hiatus. Large, non-reducing hernias also impair the process of esophageal emptying, thereby prolonging acid clearance time following a reflux event (especially while in the supine posture). These anatomically-determined functional impairments of the gastroesophageal junction lead to increased esophageal acid exposure. Thus, although hiatus hernia may or may not be an initiating factor at the inception of reflux disease, it clearly can act as a sustaining factor accounting for the frequently observed chronicity of the disease.  (+info)

Drugs, bugs, and esophageal pH profiles. (52/1256)

Until relatively recently, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) was thought to be a relatively trivial problem, and pharmaceutical companies initially had remarkably little interest in clinical trials for GERD. Over the last ten years, GERD therapy has become the subject of intense interest, since reflux disease is now recognized as a major market for antisecretory and prokinetic drugs. Even low-technology antacids are now known to effectively neutralize esophageal acid prevent acid reflux for up to 90 minutes. Esophageal pH profiling is known to be an excellent surrogate for clinical efficacy of GERD drugs, particularly in erosive esophagitis. Years ago, famotidine normalized esophageal mucosal exposure to pH < 4.0 only when administered in doses of 40 mg twice a day. Subsequent studies confirmed that multiple daily dosing of histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs) was mandatory for GERD treatment, with clear dose-response relationships for each agent. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have each been carefully assessed in terms esophageal and gastric pH profiles. Omeprazole has a particularly flat dose response curve, making it difficult to differentiate pH or clinical effects of 20 vs. 40 mg doses. Improved rapidity of onset and/or enhanced potency is demonstrable in pH data obtained with lansoprazole, rabeprazole and pantoprazole. Such differences will translate to improved clinical efficacy, based on the meta-analyses of Richard Hunt and his group in Canada that correlate pH effects and symptom relief/healing. PPI's have dependably surpassed H2RAs and prokinetic drugs in management of the more severe grades of esophagitis. Helicobacter pylori has a peculiar relationship to GERD. There has been some concern that PPIs given to patients with H. pylori might accelerate development of severe atrophic gastritis. It is also now known that eradication of H. pylori may increase symptomatic GERD (possibly as a result of increased gastric acid secretion once the bacteria have been eliminated). New data confirm nocturnal breakthrough of acid secretion and esophageal acid exposure in three-fourths of patients on omeprazole 20 mg twice daily. This nocturnal acidity can be controlled more effectively with a nighttime dose of an H2RA than with a third dose of omeprazole. Control of acid secretion and improved gastric and esophageal pH profiles are goals of modern GERD therapy, and the product that most cost effectively normalizes esophageal acid exposure will have a substantial advantage in the ever-growing GERD marketplace.  (+info)

pH, healing rate, and symptom relief in patients with GERD. (53/1256)

Gastroesophageal reflux symptoms are common and occur in all of us from time to time. In others, reflux may be associated with ulcerative esophagitis. The symptoms may be aggravated by large meals, coffee, smoking and position. Physiological and pathological reflux can be separated by the frequency and duration of the exposure of the lower esophagus to acid. Pathological reflux results in symptoms and also esophagitis and ulceration in some patients. Although gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is considered to result from a disorder of motility in the esophagus, gastric acid and peptic activity are deemed pivotal to the initiation and continuation of the esophageal damage and the development of symptoms. Acid exposure in the esophagus is normally less than 4 percent of the 24 hours with a pH below 4. An increase over 4 percent of the time with a pH less than 4 is considered pathological. Hence, antisecretory drugs have become the principle approach to the treatment of reflux symptoms and esophagitis since they reduce the acidity, of gastric juice and the activity of pepsin. Importantly, they also reduce the volume of gastric juice available for reflux into the esophagus. There is a clear relationship between the degree and duration of acid suppression and the relief of heartburn and healing of esophagitis. Pharmacodynamic studies with different dose regimens of the H2-receptor antagonists and the proton pump inhibitors show a difference in the degree and duration of the antisecretory effect, and this correlates closely with the results of clinical trials with respect to the healing of esophagitis and the relief of symptoms. Proton pump inhibitors achieve healing rates by week four, which are not achieved by H2-receptor antagonists even after 12 weeks of treatment. The advantage of proton pump inhibitors over H2-receptor antagonists is due to the greater degree, longer duration of effect and more complete inhibition of acid secretion that maintains intragastric pH above 4 for a maximal duration. Although there is no significant difference between proton pump inhibitors with respect to healing of esophagitis, symptom relief occurs earlier with lansoprazole than omeprazole, and this is probably due to the greater oral bioavailability and faster onset of action of lansoprazole when compared to omeprazole.  (+info)

Helicobacter pylori modulation of gastric acid. (54/1256)

Helicobacter pylori plays major causative roles in peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer. Elevated acid secretion in patients with duodenal ulcers (DUs) contributes to duodenal injury, and diminished acid secretion in patients with gastric cancer allows carcinogen-producing bacteria to colonize the stomach. Eradication of H. pylori normalizes acid secretion both in hyper-secreting DU patients and hypo-secreting relatives of gastric cancer patients. Therefore, we and others have asked how H. pylori causes these disparate changes in acid secretion. H. pylori gastritis more or less restricted to the gastric antrum in DU patients is associated with increased acid secretion. This is probably because gastritis increases release of the antral acid-stimulating hormone gastrin and diminished mucosal expression of the inhibitory peptide somatostatin. Bacterial products and inflammatory cytokines including TNFalpha may cause these changes in endocrine function. Gastritis involving the gastric corpus tends to diminish acid secretion, probably because bacterial products and cytokines including IL-1 inhibit parietal cells. Pharmacological inhibition of acid secretion increases corpus gastritis in H. pylori-infected subjects, so it is envisaged that gastric hypo-secretion of any cause might become self-perpetuating. H. pylori-associated mucosal atrophy will also contribute to acid hypo-secretion and is more likely in when the diet is high in salt or lacking in antioxidant vitamins. Data on gastric acid secretion in patients with esophagitis are limited but suggest that acid secretion is normal or slightly diminished. Nevertheless, H. pylori infection may be relevant to the management of esophagitis because: (i) H. pylori infection increases the pH-elevating effect of acid inhibiting drugs; (ii) proton pump inhibitors may increase the tendency of H. pylori to cause atrophic gastritis; and (iii) successful eradication of H. pylori is reported to increase the likelihood of esophagitis developing in patients who had DU disease. Points (ii) and (iii) remain controversial and more work is clearly required to elucidate the relationship between H. pylori, acid secretion, gastric mucosa atrophy and esophagitis.  (+info)

Histamine H(3)-receptor antagonists inhibit gastroprotection by (R)-alpha-methylhistamine in the rat. (55/1256)

(R)-alpha-methylhistamine, a selective agonist of histamine H(3) receptors, is capable of protecting the gastric mucosa against differently acting damaging agents. The objective of the present study was to determine whether H(3) receptors mediate its protective action in the rat. Gastric mucosal lesions were induced intragastrically (i.g.) by 0.6 N HCl, 1 ml rat(-1). (R)-alpha-methylhistamine, 100 mg kg(-1) i.g., substantially reduced the severity of macroscopically and histologically assessed damage caused by concentrated acid. Prior treatment with highly selective H(3)-receptor antagonists, ciproxifan (0.3, 1 and 3 mg kg(-1) i.g.) and clobenpropit (3, 10 and 30 mg kg(-1) i.g.), dose-dependently inhibited the protection exerted by (R)-alpha-methylhistamine up to a complete reversal. When given alone at high doses, both antagonists tended to worsen the HCl-induced histologic damage. During basal conditions, (R)-alpha-methylhistamine, 100 mg kg(-1) i. g., caused a significant increase in titratable acidity of the gastric juice. Prior treatment with ciproxifan (3 mg kg(-1) i.g.) and clobenpropit (30 mg kg(-1) i.g.) did not alter the secretory response to (R)-alpha-methylhistamine. Clobenpropit alone, but not ciproxifan, increased the volume of gastric juice, and both compounds alone had no effect on titratable acid. Present findings support evidence that H(3) receptors are actively involved in the maintenance of gastric mucosal integrity, with no apparent role in the regulation of basal gastric acid secretion.  (+info)

Membrane enzyme systems responsible for the Ca(2+)-dependent phosphorylation of Ser(27), the independent phosphorylation of Tyr(10) and Tyr(7), and the dephosphorylation of these phosphorylated residues in the alpha-chain of H/K-ATPase. (56/1256)

H/K-ATPase preparations (the G1 membrane) from pig stomach contain both kinases and phosphatases and show reversible phosphorylation of Tyr(7), Tyr(10), and Ser(27) residues of the alpha-chain of H/K-ATPase. The Tyr-kinase is sensitive to genistein and quercetin and recognized by anti-c-Src antibody. The Ser-kinase is dependent on Ca(2)(+) (K(0.5) = 0.9 microM), sensitive to a PKC inhibitor, and recognized by antibodies against PKCalpha and PKCbetaII. The addition of 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propane-sulfonic acid (CHAPS) caused a dramatic increase in the phosphorylation of added synthetic copolymer substrates and permitted the phosphorylation of maltose-binding proteins fused with the N-terminal domain of alpha-chains. The phosphotyrosine phosphatase was inhibited by vanadate. The phosphoserine phosphatase was inhibited by okadaic acid and by inhibitor-2. The presence of protein phosphatase-1 was immunologically detected. Column chromatographic separation of CHAPS-solubilized G1 membrane and others indicate the apparent molecular weight of the Src-kinase to be approximately 60 kDa, the PKCalpha and/or PKCbII to be approximately 80 kDa, the Tyr-phosphatase to be 200 kDa, and PP-1 to be approximately 35 kDa. These data show that these membrane-bound enzyme systems are in sufficiently close proximity to be responsible for reversible phosphorylation of Tyr(7), Tyr(10), and Ser(27) of the catalytic subunit of membrane H/K-ATPase in parietal cells, the physiological role of which is unknown.  (+info)