Effect of epidermal growth factor on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced intestinal damage.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF, 10 micrograms/kg po, ip, or sc, BID, and 20 micrograms/kg iv) had no protective activity in the indomethacin-induced intestinal lesion model (6 h model). In the ethanol-induced gastric lesion model, EGF (10 micrograms/kg sc) reduced lesions by 52% and reduced gastric acid secretion by 68% (5 micrograms/kg iv). In the 24 h indomethacin-induced intestinal lesion model, pretreatment with EGF (10 micrograms/kg sc, BID; 1 day before and during indomethacin treatment) had no beneficial effects. Therefore, EGF had no protective effects against non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID)-induced intestinal lesions at doses that protect against the necrotizing action of ethanol and that inhibit gastric acid secretion in the rat.