Subject emotionality and subsequent pylorus ligation-induced or restraint-induced gastric ulcer

Rats were tested for “emotionality” in a standardized open-field procedure for four consecutive days. In one experiment, open-field testing was followed by a 24-hour period of starvation and by a 10-hour period of pyloric occlusion. In a second study, open-field testing was followed by 12 hours of starvation and by three hours of supine restraint-cold (4–6° C). “High-emotional” and “low-emotional” animals differed significantly in terms of glandular ulcers (both experiments) and gastric secretion (Experiment 1). Low-emotional animals had less gastric damage and secreted a smaller volume of less concentrated gastric acid. Discriminant analysis indicated that the behavioral measures of open-field defecation and open-field ambulation were the best discriminators of high and low emotionality. Multiple regression analysis also suggested that open-field defecation and ambulation were good predictors of gastric glandular ulceration induced by either pyloric ligation or stress due to supine restraint-cold.