Cimetidine protects against stress-induced gastric injury augmented by mucosal barrier breakers.

An experimental rat model utilizing cold-restraint stress was employed to test the ability of an H2-receptor antagonist, cimetidine, to control gastric mucosal injury associated with stress augmented by the gastric mucosal barrier breakers, aspirin and taurocholate. Both aspirin and taurocholate, when combined with stress, caused a significant increase in gastric mucosal injury over that seen in animals receiving either stress alone or only gastric mucosal barrier breakers without stress. Pretreatment with cimetidine caused a significant reduction in gastric mucosal injury in stressed animals receiving gastric mucosal barrier breakers. This reduction was to the level of lesions seen in nonstressed animals.