SURAMIN ENHANCES ETHANOL-INDUCED INJURY TO GASTRIC-MUCOSA IN RATS

Suramin is currently used in clinical practice as antineoplastic agent because of its complex interaction with the biological activity of va rious growth factors involved in tumor progression, The influence exer ted by suramin on gastric injury induced in rats by intraluminal injec tion of absolute ethanol was investigated in the present study. The mo rphometric analysis of gastric histological sections revealed that sur amin, 18 mg/kg, administered intraperitoneally for 14 days every other day, caused a marked enhancement of ethanol-induced mucosal damage. T his effect was more pronounced 1-8 hr following ethanol administration , and it was still significant after 48 hr. In suramin-treated animals the evaluation of Alcian blue recovery from gastric-bound mucus showe d that the levels of adherent mucus were significantly lower than thos e detected in untreated rats. In addition, pretreatment with suramin d id not modify basal acid secretion, but caused potentiation of acid ou tput stimulated by pylorus ligation or electrical vagal stimulation. O verall, the present results indicate that suramin exerts a negative in fluence on both gastric protective and repairing mechanisms, Due to th e peculiar pharmacodynamic profile of suramin, it is suggested that in terference with endogenous growth factors, endowed with physiological protective activity on gastric mucosa, might account for the damage-en hancing action of this drug.