Stress ulcer: A morphological approach

Abstract

The effects of starvation and cold-restraint stress onthe rat stomach mucosa were investigated. Mucosaldamage was evaluated using light, transmission(TEM) and scanning (SEM) electronmicroscopy. Lightmicroscopy revealed hemorrhagic areas as well ascellular damage in the mucosa. At TEM level, severedegenerative changes were especially observed atparietal cells and chief cells of the fundic mucosa.SEM demonstrated a totally necrotic appearance ofthe mucosa at the ulcer region with widened gastricpits devoid of lining epithelium. We conclude thatexperimental stress conditions produce severegastric mocosal damage.