The effect of cimetidine and hypoxia on the gastric macromolecular glycoprotein in rat.

In an experimental study in rats, cimetidine, a potent gastric-acid inhibitor (50 mg/kg, .p.o.) reduced the macromolecular glycoprotein level of glandular stomach. The administration of cimetidine at a dose of 50 mg/kg, which inhibited the gastric lesions induced by hypoxia (13% O2 for 6 hours), reduced the glandular stomach level of high molecular glycoproteins in animals receiving a low oxygen load as well as in those receiving no load. It was assumed that the reduction of macromolecular glycoprotein accelerated the gastric lesion induced by hypoxia load in rats and that cimetidine inhibited the lesions through a process other than that of recovering the glycoprotein level in the glandular stomach.