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Hydrochloric acid

A trigger of cell proliferation in the esophagus of dogs

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Abstract

The effect of a single instillation of acid and pepsin on the cell proliferation in the distal esophageal mucosa was investigated in four dogs. The doses of acid and pepsin used were lower than those provoking acute esophagitis and erosions. Usingin vitro labeling with [3H]thymidine and autoradiography, the epithelial mitotic and DNA synthesis indices were determined at 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24 hr after instillation of saline, of acid alone, or of acid with pepsin. Instillation of acid alone was followed, 16 hr later, by an increase (P<0.01) in DNA synthetic activity in the proliferative area. A mitotic peak (P<0.01) started from the 20th hour. After instillation of acid with pepsin in the same animals, a similar sequence of kinetic phenomena was observed, suggesting that the concentration of pepsin used did not potentiate the stimulating effect of acid on the cell proliferation in this epithelium. Our data indicate that hydrochloric acid stimulates the proliferative activity in the normal esophageal epithelium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gastroenterological Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    A. De Backer MD, P. Haentjens MD (recipient of a grant from the Nationaal Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) &  G. Willems MD

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  1. A. De Backer MD
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  2. P. Haentjens MD
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  3. G. Willems MD
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Additional information

This work was supported in part by a grant for cancer research from the Algemene Spaar-en Lijfrentekas and by the Fonds voor Geneeskundig Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek.

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De Backer, A., Haentjens, P. & Willems, G. Hydrochloric acid. Digest Dis Sci 30, 884–890 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01309520

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01309520

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