Opioid-Sensitive Peripheral Neuronal Activity in the Modulation of Gastric Mucosal Injury

There is growing evidence that capsaicin-sensitive afferent neurones participate in the protective mechanisms of the gastric mucosa against damage. Animals pretreated systemically with capsaicin, at doses that lead to the ablation of capsaicin-sensitive afferent neurons, show an increase in the level of macro-scopically apparent mucosal damage in different experimental models of ulceration (Szolcsanyi and Bartho, 1981; Holzer and Sametz, 1986). Furthermore, acute stimulation with capsaicin of afferent nerve endings located in the gastric mucosa protects against different ulcerogenic mechanisms (Szolcsanyi and Bartho, 1981; Holzer and Lippe, 1988; Holzer et al., 1989).