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At gestational day 16 the epithelium of the rat stomach consists of a stratified layer of undifferentiated cells, and two days later glandular structures appear. The present study was carried out to identify extracellular matrix proteins that could be involved in the epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation processes that occur in the fetal rat stomach during this period. For comparative purposes the expression of the same components in the adult gastric mucosa was examined. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats received an intraperitoneal injection of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine to label proliferating cells. One, 3.5, or 6 h post-injection the stomachs were excised and immediately frozen. The specimens were sectioned and stained with hematoxylin and eosin or for 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine, cytokeratin no. 8, H,K-ATPase, and the extracellular matrix proteins fibronectin, laminin, and collagens type I and IV. A stratified layer of proliferating cells was observed in the epithelium of the fetal stomachs, while in adult stomachs proliferating cells were detected in the isthmus/neck region of the glands. Cytokeratin, an epithelial cell marker, was sparse at gestational day 16 but abundant both at gestational day 18 and in the isthmus/neck region of gastric glands of the adult stomach. The parietal cell marker H,K-ATPase could not be detected in the fetal stomachs during this period. Fibronectin was observed in the stroma of both fetal and adult stomachs. Collagen type I could only be detected in the stroma close to the oesophagus at gestational day 16. Two days later, collagen type I was abundant in the lamina propria, the submucosa and in the serosa of the fetal stomachs. In adult tissue collagen type I was detected in the surface epithelium, the submucosa and in the serosa of the stomach. Collagen type IV and laminin were expressed in the lamina propria, the basement membranes around blood vessels, muscle cells, and nerve bundles, as well as in the serosa of both 16- and 18-day-old fetal and adult rat stomachs. In conclusion, a high cell proliferation rate was observed in the epithelium at both gestational days 16 and 18. The increased expression of cytokeratin observed during this period indicates that the epithelial character of the embryonic cells becomes more distinct, while the remarkable change in the expression of collagen type I might reflect an important role of collagen type I in the development of the gastric epithelium.

The enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells play an important role in the regulation of gastric acid secretion. They respond to gastrin by a prompt increase in histamine secretion, an effect which is mediated by the CCK-(B)/gastrin receptor acting through the IP(3)/DAG pathway. In the rat, long-term treatment with acid secretion inhibitors induces hypergastrinaemia which, in turn, results in ECL cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia. The aim of the present study was to evaluate various functional parameters in acutely isolated rat ECL cells, following long-term hypergastrinaemia in vivo. Rats were treated with vehicle or a supramaximal daily dose of omeprazole for more than 10 weeks to ensure ECL cell hyperplasia. ECL cells were isolated from vehicle-treated animals and 24, 72 and 120 h after the last dose of omeprazole. The functional activity of the acutely isolated ECL cells was determined by measuring gastrin-and forskolin-induced histamine secretion. Changes in cytosolic free calcium upon gastrin stimulation were monitored by digital video imaging. ECL cells successively regained their ability to respond to gastrin following long-term hypergastrinaemia, reaching close to vehicle-treated levels 120 h after the last dose of omeprazole. In the rat, the response pattern of the ECL cells appears to normalise in parallel with the normalisation of plasma gastrin levels.

Background: Histamine is thought to play a central role in the regulation of gastric acid secretion. In the rat oxyntic mucosa most of the histamine is synthesized and stored in enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells, and the rest resides in mast cells. The present study examines the role of ECL-cell histamine in the control of acid secretion in the intact, conscious rat., Methods: Rats were treated with alpha-fluoromethylhistidine (alpha-FMH) to inhibit histamine synthesis. alpha-FMH was given by continuous subcutaneous infusion (3 mg/kg/h) for up to 9 days. An additional oral dose of alpha-FMH (50 mg/kg) was given 2 h before each acid secretion test. Acid secretion was studied in pylorus-ligated rats and in chronic gastric fistula rats stimulated with histamine, gastrin-17, or insulin after 2-6 days of alpha-FMH infusion., Results: Treatment with alpha-FMH lowered oxyntic mucosal histamine synthesis by 80%. From previous observations this is thought to reflect depletion of histamine from the ECL cells. The remaining 20% resides in mucosal and submucosal mast cells, which seem to be resistant to alpha-FMH. Basal acid secretion was inhibited by more than 60% after alpha-FMH treatment and by more than 80% by ranitidine. Histamine-stimulated secretion was unaffected by alpha-FMH and abolished by the histamine H2-receptor antagonist ranitidine. The acid response to gastrin-17 was almost abolished in histamine-depleted rats and abolished by ranitidine. Vagally induced acid secretion (provoked by the injection of insulin or by pylorus ligation) was unaffected by alpha-FMH treatment but abolished by ranitidine and by the muscarinic M1-receptor antagonist pirenzepine., Conclusion: The results suggest that gastrin stimulates acid secretion by releasing histamine from ECL cells. Vagally induced acid secretion is also dependent on a histaminergic pathway but not on ECL-cell histamine.

The mechanism of action of gastrin on pig parietal cells was investigated. The aminopyrine accumulation technique was used to estimate acid production in gastric mucosal cells, containing 10-20% parietal cells, and in enriched parietal cells, containing 65-95% parietal cells. The gastrin analogue pentagastrin stimulated aminopyrine accumulation in a dose-dependent fashion irrespective of the proportion of non-parietal cells present. The apparent EC50 for pentagastrin was 5 nM and the maximally effective concentration was 100 nM. The histamine H2-receptor antagonist ranitidine did not affect the action of pentagastrin. The stimulatory effects of various doses of histamine on aminopyrine accumulation in highly enriched parietal cells were potentiated by the inclusion of 100 nM pentagastrin in the incubation medium. In another series of experiments using mucosal cells, the action of effective doses of pentagastrin were potentiated by the phosphodiesterase inhibitor isobutylmethyl xanthine (IBMX), which alone elicited an aminopyrine accumulation equal to 50% of that obtained by 100 microM histamine. When ranitidine (100 microM) was included, the action of IBMX was almost completely abolished. However, the dose-response curve for pentagastrin in the presence of ranitidine plus IBMX was similar to that obtained in the absence of IBMX. Dibutyryl-cAMP (DBcAMP, 1 mM) in the presence of ranitidine (100 microM) also potentiated the action of all effective doses of pentagastrin on mucosal cells. The protein kinase A inhibitor Rp-cAMPS, present at 500 microM in the incubation medium, significantly reduced the action of each effective concentration of pentagastrin on aminopyrine accumulation in enriched parietal cells. These results in pig parietal cells were interpreted as indicative of: (i) an action of gastrin exerted directly on the parietal cells; (ii) elevation of intracellular cAMP having a permissive role in the action of gastrin on aminopyrine accumulation.

In isolated rat parietal cells, a potentiating effect by gastrin of the stimulatory action of histamine and dibutyryl-cAMP (DBcAMP) on aminopyrine accumulation, an index of the acid formed and trapped by the cells, was recently reported by us (1991, Am. J. Physiol. 261, G621-G627). In the present study, this mechanism of action of gastrin was further investigated. Enriched parietal cells (approximately 65% parietal cells) were incubated under different conditions and processed for electron microscopy. Morphometric analysis of the micrographs revealed that pentagastrin (100 nM) was as efficient as histamine (100 microM) in inducing the formation of vacuolar/canalicular spaces in the parietal cells. In the presence of the histamine H2-receptor antagonist ranitidine, histamine was ineffective but pentagastrin and gastrin-17 (G17) maintained their capacity to induce the morphological transformations. By stimulation with pentagastrin plus histamine, the vacuolar/canalicular volume was 2-fold higher than by stimulation separately with each one of the secretagogues. G-17 (100 nM) alone was ineffective but potentiated the maximal [14C]aminopyrine accumulation obtained with 100 microM histamine in mucosal cells (approximately 25-35% parietal cells). Ranitidine blocked both histamine-and histamine plus G-17-stimulated aminopyrine accumulation. G-17 potentiated also the stimulation by 1 mM dibutyryl-cyclic AMP but this was not inhibited by ranitidine. Pentagastrin (100 nM) increased the basal [14C]glucose oxidation in mucosal cells by 30%. This increase was not blocked by ranitidine which, however, abolished the histamine-stimulated glucose oxidation. Incubation of the cells with pentagastrin plus histamine resulted in a glucose oxidation which equaled the sum of the values obtained by each one of the agents. These results indicate that gastrin, acting directly on the parietal cells, potentiates the action of histamine on aminopyrine accumulation by increasing the vacuolar/canalicular spaces, a process that is reflected in the metabolic activity of the cells. Thus a major effect of gastrin at the parietal cell level appears to be the induction of a morphology which is characteristic of stimulated cells rather than a direct activation of ion-transport mechanisms.

The effects of gastrin on cytosolic free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) in single, isolated rat gastric parietal cells were investigated using the fluorescent probe Fura-2 and digital image analysis. [Ca2+]i was increased by gastrin (100 nM) in approximately 30% of the parietal cells, which were identified by using either the fluorescent probe acridine orange or a parietal cell-specific monoclonal antibody. In the dominant pattern observed, [Ca2+]i was elevated 50-150% and returned within 1-2 min to a value 30-60% over the basal, which was sustained until withdrawal of the stimulant or addition of the gastrin inhibitor L-365,260 (1 microM). The second, but not the first phase, was abolished in the absence of extracellular Ca2+. The results indicate the existence of functional gastrin receptors in a subpopulation of rat parietal cells.