Effect of an anti-acetylcholine drug, methscopolamine bromide, on ulcer formation and gastric mucus

Abstract

A 30-hr period of restraint in rats was followed by the appearance of ulcers in the gastric corpus coincidental with a marked reduction of gastric juice volume, acid and also of hexosamine which was used as an estimation of mucus content. Methscopolamine (Pamine), an anti-acetylcholine drug, prevented ulcer formation, reduced further volume and acid output but produced a 3–4 fold increase in hexosamine concentration. Tissue (corpus and antrum) hexosamine was moderately reduced by restraint. In the corpus, this was counteracted by methscopolamine but antrum hexosamine was not influenced by this drug. The anti-ulcer property of methscopolamine may be due not only to its effect on acid secretion but also to the rise in gastric mucus concentration that it produced.