Gastric mucosal blood flow distribution in the CCl4-induced cirrhotic rat--a model of portal hypertensive gastropathy?
Because the carbon tetrachloride-induced cirrhotic rat model is considered to be the closest to the clinical situation of the cirrhotic patient, the discovery of congestive gastropathy in such rats would enable the development of a useful research model. By the use of laser-Doppler technology, gastric mucosal blood flow was assessed on 14 defined points of the stomach in 16 cirrhotic and 16 matched healthy rats, in an effort at in vivo mapping of the gastric mucosal microcirculation. Our findings of mucosal congestion in the cirrhotic stomach (reduced mucosal blood flow in the gastric corpus) are well matched with the distribution of gastric mucosal blood flow in the cirrhotic patient. These findings suggest that a rat's gastric mucosa could be used for studies of portal hypertensive gastropathy.