Restraint Plus Water-immersion Stress (RWIS)-induced Stomach Ulcers in Mice are Depressed by a Conditioning Heat Treatment

A conditioning mild heat treatment can depress subsequent severe heat‑induced biological damage by inducing thermal tolerance. In the work described herethe effect of a conditioning mild heat exposure at 37℃ was examined on the formation of gastric mucosa damage induced by a restraint plus water‑immersion stress(RWIStreatment in mice. RWIS treatments induced stomach ulcers in about 42% of the control animalsbut a mild conditioning heat treatment at 37℃ was found to depress the appearance of ulcersand only about 9% of the pre‑exposed animals developed ulcers. In addition RWIS treatment induced an apoptosis rate in the stomach of about 13%but a conditioning mild heat treatment depressed the apoptotic rate to about 8%. Since the heat shock protein (HSP inducer geranylgeranylacetone(GGAalso efficiently depressed stomach ulcer incidence ratesit is suggested that gastric mucosa damage may be depressed by HSPs induced by a mild conditioning heat treatment through the depression of apoptosis.