Microvascular changes in experimental gastric stress ulceration : the influence of allopurinol, cimetidine, and misoprostol

Abstract The influence of stress on the structure of the gastric mucosal capillary network was investigated in an experimental model using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study corrosion casts of the gastric microvasculature. An index of microcirculatory patency was devised to improve the objectivity of SEM. Stress (mean score 42.4 ± 4.7) severely disrupted the structure of the mucosal capillary network when compared with controls (mean 5.0 ± 2.9) ( P P