Nitric oxide inhibition intensifies cold-restraint induced gastric ulcers in rats

Treatment 20 min beforehand with an inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis, N^W-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) (12.5, 25, 50 or 100 mg/kg, s.c.), dose-dependently intensified gastric glandular mucosal ulceration produced by cold-restraint stress. Hexamethonium (20 mg/kg) or atropine (1 mg/kg) pretreatment s.c. 20 min before stress strongly antagonised stress-evoked ulceration, as well as the ulcer-potentiating effects of L-NAME when either cholinoceptor antagonist was given concurrently with the NO inhibitor. Stress-induced mast cell degranulation was not worsened by L-NAME pretreatment. The findings suggest that NO could confer partial protection against stress-induced gastric ulcer formation; its activity is triggered off by the ulcerogenic mechanism of stress.