An evaluation of some antacid and antipeptic agents in the prevention of gastric ulceration in the rat

Conclusions

Using a simple method, developed in our laboratory, for producing ulcers in rats, we have evaluated a number of therapeutic agents used in the management of gastric and duodenal ulcer for their ability to protect the rumen against ulcerations and for their antacid and antipeptic action. Included in the study were Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate and colloidal aluminum hydroxide, singly and in mixtures, magnesium aluminum silicate, magnesium oxide, di-basic aluminum aminoacetate, magnesium trisilicate, and sodium bicarbonate. The protection of the rumen mucosa was greatest but not complete with Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate and colloidal aluminum hydroxide used singly. The other agents showed a diminishing protective action in the order in which they have been enumerated above. Sodium bicarbonate was the least effective. When combined in a mixture, Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate and colloidal aluminum hydroxide exhibited synergistic beneficial effects and protected the rumen against ulcerations completely. The practical possibilities of combining these two agents in the treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcer are discussed. Our results accent the importance of pepsin in the development of ulceration. With a pH which is just low enough to allow pepsin to act, severity of ulceration was found to be directly related to the “peptic activity” of the recovered gastric contents and was not dependent upon further variations in acidity or in “pepsin concentration.”