Abstract
In recent years a number of methods for producing psychogenic ulceration have been reported. Ulcers could be formed by treatment with reserpine combined with stress such as restraint(l), conflict (2), electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus (3), and electrical shock through a grid in the floor (4). Kido (4) has described production of ulcers in cats by exposure to stress such as electrical or mechanical shock after the tissue monoamines had been exhausted by reserpine treatment. When the stress was given during the release of monoamines by reserpine no ulcer could be formed. This shows that monoamines such as serotonin and norepinephrine are involved in the formation of ulcers. The present paper describes 1) the cellular localization of serotonin and norepinephrine in the gastrointestinal tract of cats by the method developed by Carlsson et al. (5, 6), 2) correlation between manoamine contents and ulcer and 3) the role of stress in the formation of ulcers.
