Oxidative stress, nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2 levels in the gastrointestinal tract of aging rats

Abstract

The absence of macroscopic gastric injury throughout the gastrointestinal tract indicates that the oxidative stress in the stomach and the significant decrease of nitric oxide in the duodenum in the old rats are not sufficient to disrupt the mucosal defence network. The results support the notion that the disruption of the mucosal network is essentially regulated by the cytoprotective agents prostaglandin E2 and nitric oxide, and that injury appears only when both substances are concurrently reduced.