This study was conducted to see whether the hippocampectomy exerted facilitatory influence upon gastric ulceration in animals, and if so, whether the effect of hippocampectomy could be suppressed by adrenalectomy.
107 male rats were divided into 5 groups: rats that had over 90% of their hippocampal tissue removed through an opening on each side of the cerebral cortex(hippocampal group, N=21), rats that received bilateral adrenalectomy(adrenal group, N=29), rats that received adrenalectomy as well as hippocampectomy(hippocampo-adrenal group, N=10), rats that received damage to each side of the cortex over the hippocampus(cortical control group, N=20), and rats that had solely their head skin incised(normal control group, N=27). All rats were kept without restraint or food deprivation until on the 25th day after surgery, the stomach of each rat was inflated with 7m1 of physiological saline and then removed under deep anesthesia. The mucosal surface was sketched under dissecting microscope, and enlarged photographs(4X) were taken. The percentage of animals developing gastric ulcer in each animal group was calculated, the number of ulcer in each stomach was counted, and the total area of ulceration per stomach was measured on the photograph with the aid of superimposed graph paper and expressed as permillage of total area of the glandular mucosa.
Results obtained were as follows:
1. The percentage of animals developing gastric ulcer was significantly larger in the hippocampal group than they were in the hippocampo-adrenal, the adrenal, the cortical, and the normal control groups.
2. The mean number of ulcer per stomach was significantly larger in the hippocampal group than they were in the adrenal, the cortical control, and the normal control groups, while no significant difference existed between the hippocampal and the hippocampo-adrenal groups.
3. Total area of ulcer per stomach was significantly larger in the hippocampal group than they were in the cortical control and the normal control groups, but no significant difference existed among the hippocampal, the adrenal, and the hippocampo-adrenal groups.
4. All measured values of the adrenal group were not significantly different from those of the hippocampo-adrenal, the cortical control, and the normal control groups.
It is inferred from the above results that the hippocampus exerts an inhibitory influence upon gastric ulceration and that the hippocampal influence is mediated only Partly Suppression of pituitary-adrenal activity. Through suppression of pituitary-adrenal activity.
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