Avaliação macroscópica da exposição ao etanol e da desintoxicação alcoólica sobre lesões gástricas em ratos

AIMS: To investigate the effects of chronic ethanol consumption and alcohol detox on macroscopic gastric lesions in rats. METHODS: This is an experimental study in which 18 adult male rats (Rattus norvegicus) of the Wistar strain, with 40 days of life were divided into three randomized groups with six animals each: Control Group (CT), Detoxicated Group (DE) and Alcohol Group (AC). The AC animals have been subjected to an experimental model termed as chronic alcoholics, in which, after a period of adaptation, they received ethanol as the only liquid food available until completion of 13 weeks of the experiment. The DE was subjected to the same protocol as the AC, however, after six weeks of alcohol consumption, the animals were subjected to the alcohol detoxification process. At the end of the experiment, the stomach of the three groups of animals were collected in order to investigate the presence of gastric lesions. RESULTS: The animals in the CG showed no lesions. The animals in DE exhibited a larger number of lesions in comparison to the AC (44±3.7 and 21±0.3 respectively). Macroscopic examination of the animal’s stomachs indicates that the animals in the DE were those with the highest injury rate in the gastric mucosa. CONCLUSIONS: Ethanol consumed chronically or after alcohol detoxification triggered gastric lesions in AC and DE, but sharply in the group submitted to detoxification, which can characterize a possible synergism between ethanol consumption and alcohol detox post-stress in the pathogenesis of gastric ulcer.