Inhibition of steroid induced gastric ulcers in forestomachectomized albino rats by phenobarbital.

Oral administration of 2.5 mg of prednisolone/100 gm B.W. to starved forestomachectomized albino rats for three days induces 5-7 acute gastric ulcers with a severity of 3+ in 86% of the rats in the corpus comparable to human gastric ulcers with an ulcer index of 17.1. When 15 mg of Phenobarbital/100 gm B.W. was concomitantly administered with prednisolone either orally or subcutaneously prevents the formation of steroid induced ulcers probably due to their insensitization of gastric epithelium to corticoid ulcerogenic induction. This preliminary observation may have a therapeutic value as this sedative has a common usage. It is is suggested that forestomachectomized rats are best suited for ulcerogenic experiments.