THE EFFECT OF ETHANOL, BEER, AND WINE ON HISTAMINE-RELEASE FROM THE DOG STOMACH

The mediator for the action of ethanol on the parietal cell of the sto mach is not known. However, because the action of ethanol on gastric a cid secretion was proposed to involve the release of histamine, we dec ided to investigate the effects of ethanol and some alcoholic beverage s (red wine and beer) on histamine release from the dog stomach. After performing a splenectomy in anaesthetized beagle dogs, the gastrosple nic vein draining the corpus of the stomach was cannulated for blood w ithdrawal to evaluate the local release of gastrin and histamine by RI A. Intragastric administration of 200 ml of beer (4.8% ethanol) or red wine (12.5% ethanol) caused a significant enhancement in gastrin and histamine concentrations in venous blood from the stomach. By contrast , intragastric administration of pure ethanol in distilled water at th e same concentrations of wine or beer did not significantly modify gas trin and histamine release. Integrated histamine responses for 20 min to beer and wine paralleled gastrin concentrations and were of the sam e magnitude of those induced by intravenous infusion of pentagastrin a t 1 and 6 mu g/kg/h, respectively. We conclude that: 1) beer and red w ine, but not pure ethanol, are potent releasers of histamine; 2) hista mine release seems to be related to the gastrin response and probably occurs at the level of enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells; 3) the ethan ol content of these drinks is not important for their stimulant effect , indicating that some other components of beer and wine are responsib le for gastrin and histamine release from the dog stomach. Copyright ( C) 1996 Elsevier Science Inc.