Myenteric denervation reduces the incidence of gastric tumors in rats.

The influence of myenteric denervation on the development of gastric tumors induced by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) was studied after chemical denervation of the rat stomach with benzalkonium chloride (BAC). Three groups were evaluated: control, denervated and denervated with pyloroplasty. Random bred male Wistar rats were given MNNG in drinking water (100 mg/l) for 28 weeks. After the sacrifice of animals, the stomachs were removed for morphological study. BAC reduced myenteric neurons number, increased the gastric mucosa area and decreased the adenocarcinomas number and size. This decrease was more evident when denervation was associated with pyloroplasty. These results indicate that myenteric denervation reduces the incidence of experimentally induced gastric tumors.