The Effects of Vagotomy on the Gastric Mucosa of the Rat

Abstract

In order to determine the effects of vagotomy on the gastric mucosa, the operations of pyloroplasty and vagotomy, pyloroplasty alone, and a sham operation were carried out in rats, and the parietal and peptic cell populations of the stomach were estimated in each animal. From the differences detected between the three groups it was concluded that vagotomy significantly reduced the average number of peptic cells per unit area of the mucosa (33 %), the total peptic cell population (34 %), and the height of the mucosa (19 %). Pyloroplasty alone did not exert any significant effects although it tended to reduce the total parietal cell population.