[Pathophysiology of the harmful influence of smoking on the course of gastric and duodenal ulcer diseases].

Smoking increase risk of gastric and duodenal ulcer, decreases its healing rate and increases recurrence rate. In this report results of experiments, which aim was to explain mechanisms of this effect, are presented. Although the studies often provide conflicting results, many of them suggest that smoking potentiates aggressive factors (gastric acid and pepsin secretion, reflux of bile salts, generation of tissular aggressive factors, Helicobacter pylori infection) and attenuates defensive mechanism of gastric and duodenal mucosa (bicarbonates epidermal growth factor and gastric mucus secretion, mucosal blood flow). In this way smoking could disturb the balance between aggressive and defensive factors and predispose to peptic ulcer.