Effects of Hydrocortisone on the Pepsinogen-Producing Cells in Rat Stomach Mucosa

Pepsinogen is a marker of the terminal differentiation of stomach mucosa. At present, controlling mechanisms of differentiation in stomach mucosa is not fully understood. Previous studies demonstrated that administration of hydrocortisone to developing rats induces a precocious increase in the mucosal pepsinogen level in the stomach (1–3), indicating that glucocorticoids are somehow involved in the differentiation of the stomach mucosa. However, the physiological significance of glucocorticoids in the regulation of pepsinogen gene expression is not well understood. In addition, the effects of glucocorticoids on pepsinogen-producing cells in fully-differentiated stomach mucosa are less clear (4,5). In this study, we examined the effects of hydrocortisone on infant and adult rat stomach mucosa, especially on pepsinogen gene expression and the morphology of pepsinogen-producing cells.