American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 25, 864-866, Copyright © 1972 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Effect of vitamin E on the development of stress-produced gastric ulceration in the rat

¹ From the Counseling and Testing Center, University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, California 95053 and the Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305

Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley albino rats, 90 days of age, were subjected to 4 days of orientation and 8 days of food-water deprivation and confinement stress. Twice daily during the 8 days of stress, one-half of the animals were given 50 mg vitamin E (dl-alpha-tocopheryl acetate) in a water-based solution (1 ml) by gavage. The other half, controls, was given the same water-based vehicle without vitamin E. At the end of the 8 days, the animals were killed, their stomachs removed, and photographed. The photographs were independently rated by three pathologists on a 4-point scale from 1 (no ulceration) to 4 (severe ulceration). The mean ulceration rating for the vitamin E group was 1.92, and the rating for the control group was 3.42, indicating that vitamin E has significant preventive properties in relation to the production of stress-induced gastric ulcers in the rat.