Ability of prostaglandin to reduce ethanol injury to dispersed chief cells from guinea pig stomach.

To determine whether prostaglandin exerts a direct action on individual gastric epithelial cells that protects them from ethanol-induced injury, dispersed chief cells from guinea pig stomach were pretreated with 16,16-dimethyl-prostaglandin E2 (dmPGE2) or placebo before incubation with ethanol or control. Cell injury was assessed in terms of exclusion of Fast Green dye, release of lactate dehydrogenase, alterations of ultrastructure, and pepsinogen secretion stimulated by a variety of secretagogues. Of chief cells 60 +/- 2% were stained by Fast Green if incubated with 10% ethanol for 1 h after pretreatment with placebo, whereas only 38 +/- 1% of cells showed Fast Green staining when pretreated with 2.6 microM dmPGE2 before ethanol exposure. Similarly, 63 +/- 2% of cellular lactate dehydrogenase was released from chief cells pretreated with placebo compared with 36 +/- 4% of lactate dehydrogenase released from cells pretreated with 2.6 microM dmPGE2 (P less than 0.01). The prostaglandin's protective effect persisted throughout a 6-h incubation with ethanol. Scanning and transmission electron micrographs demonstrated disintegration of chief cells pretreated with placebo before ethanol exposure, whereas ultrastructural architecture was relatively preserved among chief cells pretreated with dmPGE2. Preincubation with 8 or 10% ethanol inhibited the subsequent stimulation of pepsinogen secretion caused by carbachol, cholecystokinin, A23187, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate, forskolin, or 8-bromoadenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate. Pretreatment with dmPGE2 did not reduce the ethanol-induced inhibition of secretion stimulated by any of these secretagogues. These data indicate that dmPGE2 significantly reduces ethanol-induced damage to dispersed chief cells in terms of alterations of membrane permeability and ultrastructure but does not prevent the ethanol-induced impairment of pepsinogen secretion. These findings provide evidence that dmPGE2 exerts a direct but limited protective action on the gastric chief cell, independent of vascular, paracrine, or neural actions.