The effect of celiac and superior mesenteric ganglionectomy on the canine gastric mucosal barrier.

The role of the sympathetic nervous system in gastric function remains poorly understood. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of celiac and superior mesenteric ganglionectomy on gastric mucosal barrier function. Four dogs with Pavlov-type pouches were studied. In the preganglionectomy phase, the pouch gastric mucosa was challenged with progressively higher concentrations of known damaging agents, ethanol and taurocholic acid. Mucosal integrity was studied by measuring ionic fluxes (H+, Na+, K+, Cl-) and transmucosal electrical potential difference (PD). Celiac and superior mesenteric ganglionectomy was then performed and after adequate recovery, the postganglionectomy phase of the study was done challenging the mucosa with the same damaging agents at the same concentrations used in the preganglionectomy study. The major alterations which occurred postganglionectomy were primarily motility-related and little evidence of altered gastric mucosal barrier permeability was detected. Specifically, all four animals developed an intractable diarrhea postganglionectomy which resulted in a 20% weight loss over 4-6 weeks. In contrast, there was no significant difference in H+ loss from and Na+/K+ gain to the pouches when the pre- and postganglionectomy fluxes were compared. Similarly, after challenge with damaging agents, PD changes in the pre- and postganglionectomy were not significantly different.