Anaesthetic agents inhibit gastrin-stimulated but not basal histamine release from rat stomach ECL cells.

By mobilizing histamine in response to gastrin, the ECL cells in the oxyntic mucosa play a key role in the control of the parietal cells and hence of gastric acid secretion. General anaesthesia suppresses basal and gastrin- and histamine-stimulated acid secretion. The present study examines if the effect of anaesthesia on basal and gastrin-stimulated acid secretion is associated with suppressed ECL-cell histamine secretion. A microdialysis probe was implanted in the submucosa of the ventral aspect of the acid-producing part of the stomach (32 rats). Three days later, ECL-cell histamine mobilization was monitored 2 h before and 4 h after the start of intravenous infusion of gastrin (5 nmol kg(-1) h(-1)). The rats were either conscious or anaesthetized. Four commonly used anaesthetic agents were given 1 h before the start of the experiments by intraperitoneal injection: chloral hydrate (300 mg kg(-1)), pentobarbitone (40 mg kg(-1)), urethane (1.5 g kg(-1)) and a mixture of fluanisone/fentanyl/midazolam (15/0.5/7.5 mg kg(-1)). In a parallel series of experiments, basal- and gastrin-induced acid secretion was monitored in six conscious and 25 anaesthetized (see above) chronic gastric fistula rats. All anaesthetic agents lowered gastrin-stimulated acid secretion; also the basal acid output was reduced (fluanisone/fentanyl/midazolam was an exception). Anaesthesia reduced gastrin-stimulated but not basal histamine release by 55 - 80%. The reduction in gastrin-induced acid response (70 - 95%) was strongly correlated to the reduction in gastrin-induced histamine mobilization. The correlation is in line with the view that the reduced acid response to gastrin reflects impaired histamine mobilization. Rat stomach ECL cells were purified by counter-flow elutriation. Gastrin-evoked histamine mobilization from the isolated ECL cells was determined in the absence or presence of anaesthetic agents in the medium. With the exception of urethane, they inhibited gastrin-evoked histamine secretion dose-dependently, indicating a direct effect on the ECL cells. Anaesthetized rats are widely used to study acid secretion and ECL-cell histamine release. The present results illustrate the short-comings of such an approach in that a number of anaesthetic agents were found to impair not only acid secretion but also the secretion of ECL-cell histamine - some acting in a direct manner.