Protective effect of alanyl-glutamine dipeptide on acute gastric ulcer in rats

Objective To evaluate the protective effect of alanyl-glutamine dipeptide (Ala-Gln) on different acute gastric ulcer models in rats and investigate its possible mechanisms. Methods The gastric ulcer in rats was induced by waterimmersion restraint stress,ethanol and pylorus ligation. On each gastric ulcer model,sixty SD rats were randomly divided into six groups including the gastric ulcer control group, cimetidine (0.1 g/kg) and marzulene-S (1.0 g/kg) treatment groups,as well as 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 g/kg Ala-Gln treatment groups. Before the gastric ulcer,different doses of drugs were administered intragastrically,once a day for 3 days. Ulcer index, gastric acid, gastric juice value, gastric acid, free acid, total acid and pepsin activity were used to evaluate and compare the protective effect of Ala-Gln and other anti-ulcer drugs. Results Ala-Gln significantly reduced the gastric ulcer index in all giving dose (P0.01)and its protective effect increased significantly with the climbing dose. In all three gastric ulcer models,the anti-ulcer effects of 1.0 and 1.5 g/kg Ala-Gln treatment groups were equal to that of marzulene-S. In addition, Ala-Gln also markedly inhibited the secretion of free acid (P0.01)and decreased the activity of pepsin (P0.05) on pylorus ligation gastric ulcer rats. Conclusion Ala-Gln has obviously anti-ulcer effect on different experimental gastric ulcer models. Except for the known protective effect on gastric mucosa,its anti-ulcer mechanisms may be related to its inhibitory effect on gastric acid and pepsin.