Effect of sofalcone on the gastric cell proliferation in the experimental gastritis of rats.

Effects of sofalcone on the morphometrical glandular structure and the generative cell proliferation in the gastric mucosa of gastritis, induced in rats by the treatment of sodium taurocholate (TCA) for 3 and 6 months, were examined by means of 3H-thymidine autoradiography. Morphometrical observation revealed that the ratios of the length of the glandular portion/the total length of the gastric gland were generally decreased in both fundic and pyloric glands with TCA treatments, which may indicate mucosal atrophy. These atrophic changes were improved to the normal levels by the administration of sofalcone for 3 weeks after the treatment of TCA. On the other hand, cell proliferative activity, indicated by the labeling indexes in the generative cell zone of gastric mucosa, was increased in TCA induced gastritis rat, which seems to be the response to replace the increased cell loss. The administration of sofalcone to the gastritis rats further increased the labeling indexes, especially in pyloric gland with statistical significance in both TCA treated rats for 3 and 6 months. From these results, it is suggested that sofalcone stimulates the compensatory increase of proliferative activity of generative cells, which would be available to repair the gastric mucosa with gastritis.