Mechanisms of gastroprotection by lansoprazole pretreatment against experimentally induced injury in rats: role of mucosal oxidative damage and sulfhydryl compounds

This study investigated the mechanisms involved in the protective actions exerted by lansoprazole against experimental gastric injury. Following the intraluminal injection of ethanol\u2013HCl, the histomorphometric analysis of rat gastric sections demonstrated a pattern of mucosal lesions associated with a significant increase in the mucosal contents of malondialdehyde and 8-iso-prostaglandin F2\u3b1 (indices of lipid peroxidation), as well as a decrease in the levels of mucosal sulfhydryl compounds, assayed as reduced glutathione (GSH). Pretreatment with lansoprazole 90 \u3bcmol/kg, given intraduodenally as single dose or once daily by intragastric route for 8 days, significantly prevented ethanol\u2013HCl-induced gastric damage. The concomitant changes in the mucosal levels of malondialdehyde, 8-iso-prostaglandin F2\u3b1 and GSH elicited by ethanol\u2013HCl were also counteracted by lansoprazole. In separate experiments, performed on animals undergoing 2-h pylorus ligation, lansoprazole did not enhance the concentration of prostaglandin E2, bicyclo-prostaglandin E2, or nitric oxide (NO) metabolites into gastric juice. Western blot analysis revealed the expression of both type 1 and 2 cyclooxygenase (COX) isoforms in the gastric mucosa of pylorus-ligated rats. These expression patterns were not significantly modified by single-dose or repeated treatment with lansoprazole. Lansoprazole also exhibited direct antioxidant properties by reducing 8-iso-prostaglandin F2\u3b1 generation in an in vitro system where human native low-density lipoproteins were subjected to oxidation upon exposure to CuSO4. The present results suggest that the protective effects of lansoprazole can be ascribed to a reduction of gastric oxidative injury, resulting in an increased bioavailability of mucosal sulfhydryl compounds. It is also proposed that lansoprazole does not exert modulator effects on the gastric expression of COX isoforms as well as on the activity of NO pathways