Effect of acid secretion blockade on acute gastric mucosal lesions induced by Tityus serrulatus scorpion toxin in anaesthetized rats

Scorpion venom (TX) promotes gastric acid and pepsin secretion leading to acute gastric mucosal lesions (AGML), when injected in animals. The goal of the present study was to observe the effects of acid gastric secretion blockers over the incidence of TX-induced AGML in vivo. To verify this model, we used male albino rats, fasted 18-20 h (n = 122) and anaesthetized with urethane (1.4 g/kg, i.p.). Their trachea and left femoral vein were both cannulated; the first to avoid airway obstructions during scorpion intoxication and the second for administration of saline, TX and acid blockers. Following the surgical procedure, the animals were divided in 10 groups of at least 10 animals each. Control groups were injected with NaCl 0.9% 1 ml/kg (n = 10) or TX 375 μg/kg (n = 32). Test groups (n = 10, each) received atropine 5 mg/kg, cimetidine 10 mg/kg, ranitidine 2.5 mg/kg, ranitidine 5 mg/kg, omeprazol 1 mg/kg, omeprazol 4 mg/kg, octreotide 80 and octreotide 100 μg/kg 10 min before the TX was injected. After 1 h of intoxication, the stomach was resected for macroscopic study and the gastric secretion was collected for volume, pH and acid output assessment. We observed that all blockers were able to completely or partially prevent the TX-induced acid secretion as well as the AGML (p < 0.05). Our data suggest the TX-induced AGML can be prevented by different class of acid blockers injected before the intoxication.