Carbenoxolone and deglycyrrhized liquorice have little or no effect on prostanoid synthesis by rat gastric mucosa ex vivo.

Rats were given either carbenoxolone 50 mg kg-1, deglycyrrhized liquorice 1 g kg-1 or vehicle by gastric tube. The doses were repeated 16 h later, and the stomachs removed after another 2 h. The amounts of prostaglandin E (PGE), 6-keto-PGF1 alpha and thromboxane B2, measured by radioimmunoassay in extracts of the gastric corpus and antrum mucosa, were similar in the treated animals and the controls. We conclude that in rats, carbenoxolone and deglycyrrhized liquorice may exert their anti-ulcer effect by a non-prostaglandin mechanism. This contrasts with the mechanism through to occur in man with carbenoxolone.