The effects of morphine on gastric secretion, barrier mucus and mucosal lesions were studied in pylorus-ligated rats treated with the ulcerogenic agents, indomethacin, aspirin or taurocholic acid. ...All three ulcerogenic agents induced significant mucosal lesions. Morphine decreased gastric acid secretion and suppressed the aspirin- and taurocholic acid-induced, but not the indomethacin-induced mucosal lesions. These results suggest that the ulcerogenic mechanisms of indomethacin and the other agents are not identical. Moreover the antiulcer effect of morphine appears to be mediated by an increased barrier mucus level: the amount of Alcian blue bound to the mucosa, an indirect estimate of the adherent mucus layer, was increased by morphine and correlated with its protective effect. All morphine effects were reversed by naloxone.
We present a method for the determination of blood glucose using dried filter paper blood spots. To validate this method, we compared our results using filter paper and simultaneously collected ...venous blood. We demonstrated that there is a linear relationship between the filter paper glucose levels and those determined in whole blood (r = 0.98). There was no significant difference between the results of the two methods (p > 0.05). This method is a cheap alternative which may improve the control of diabetes mellitus, and may also be very useful in the diagnosis of postprandial hypoglycemia and other special situations.