Influence of prednisolone on ethanol-induced gastric injury in the rat.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of prednisolone on gastric injury induced by ethanol in the rat. Gastric damage was produced by oral administration of 1 ml of absolute ethanol to rats previously fasted for 24 hr and deprived of water for 19 hr. The severity of the ethanol-induced gastric damage varied considerably within the vehicle-treated group of rats which served as controls. Prednisolone, administered orally as a single dose 15 min before alcohol challenge, significantly decreased the number of rats which developed severe lesions. Prednisolone was effective in increasing the resistance of the gastric mucosa to ethanol when given from 1 to 60 min before alcohol. The steroid proved ineffective when 90 min elapsed between prednisolone and ethanol administration, or when the steroid was given at the same time (0 min) as alcohol. The dose-response curve for prednisolone plateaued at high doses. Our results suggest that a prostaglandin-mediated endogenous cytoprotective potential exists in the rat gastric mucosa. Prednisolone may enhance the degree of mucosal protection afforded by this mechanism.