Abstract
Kido (1) has shown that even a small dose of reserpine could produce severe ulcers in the gastrointestinal tract of cats when combined with stress, such as hypothalamic stimulation and electrical shock through the grid on the floor of the cage. Hartry (2) and Sawrey and Sawrey (3) also reported that ulcers were produced by a small dose of reserpine and stress in rats. The author (4, 5) previously reported that ulcer formation by reserpine and stress had a close correlation with the decrease in monoamines, i.e. serotonin and norepinephrine, in the gastrointestinal tract, and that syrosingopine and tetrabenazine could produce similar ulcers when combined with grid shock. From these findings he speculated that the decrease in peripheral as well as central monoamines contributed important factors in ulcer formation by reserpine and grid shock. If it is true that the decrease in monoamines is the cause of ulcer formation by reserpine and grid shock, it has to be inhibited by a replenishment of monoamines or their precursors. In the present study, the effects of MAO inhibitor, monoamines and their precursors on ulcer formation by reserpine and grid shock were investigated. Moreover, the effects of drugs which block the autonomic nerves were also investigated to confirm the observation of Kido (1) that in splanchnectomized and vagotomized cats ulcers were hardly produced by reserpine and grid shock.
