Induction of ornithine decarboxylase in the stomach mucosa of swine with NaCl or 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate.

The effect of sodium chloride and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate on ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity in gastric mucosa of miniature swine was investigated as a model for gastric inflammation. The level of the enzyme was lower in the pylorus than in the fundic or cardiac regions of the stomach in untreated animals. Treatment with sodium chloride at 1 g/kg produced large increases in all three regions, with the greatest relative increase in the pylorus. Treatment with sodium chloride at 0.25 g/kg or the phorbol ester at 2.0 mg/pig produced significant but less dramatic increases. ODC activity in control and treated mucosal extracts was inhibited by the specific ODC inhibitor difluoromethylornithine. Most of the enzyme activity was associated with superficial and exfoliated cells that could be scraped from the mucosal surface. No increase in the inflammatory mediator leukotriene B4 was observed in the mucosal extracts. Ornithine decarboxylase appears to be a useful enzymatic marker for the regenerative events that occur after tissue damage and may correlate with the putative tumor-promoting function of sodium chloride in gastric tissues.