AIM:To investigate the effect of epidermal growth factor(EGF)on mucosal healing in rats with duodenal ulcer.METHODS:Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomlydivided into sham operation without EGF,sham operationwith EGF,duodenal ulcer without EGF,or duodenal ulcerwith EGF groups.Additionally,normal rats without operationserved as the control group.Duodenal ulcer was induced inrats by 300 mL/L acetic acid.Rats with EGF were orallyadministered at a dose of 60 μg/kg/day in drinking wateron the next day of operation(day 1).Healing of duodenalulcer was detected by haematoxylin and eosin staining.Cellgrowth of damaged mucosa was determined by the contentsof nucleic acids and proteins.The level of EGF in duodenalmucosa was measured by ELISA.RESULTS:The pathological results showed that duodenalulcer rats with EGF improved mucosal healing comparedwith those without EGF after day 5.Duodenal ulcer ratswith EGF significantly increased duodenal DNA contentcompared with those without EGF on day 15(6.44±0.54mg/g vs 1.45±0.52 mg/g mucosa,P<0.05).Duodenal RNAand protein contents did not differ between duodenal ulcerrats with and without EGF during the experimental period.Sham operation and duodenal ulcer rats with EGF significantlyincreased duodenal mucosal FGF content compared withthose without EGF on day 5(76.0±13.7 ng/g vs 35.7±12.9ng/g mucosa in sham operation rats,and 68.3±10.9 ng/gvs 28.3±9.2 ng/g mucosa in duodenal ulcer rats,P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Oral EGF can promote mucosal healing ofthe rats with duodenal ulcer by stimulating mucosalproliferation accompanied by an increase in mucosal EGFcontent. AIM: To investigate the effect of epidermal growth factor (EGF) on mucosal healing in rats with duodenal ulcer. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were differentiated into sham operation without EGF, sham operation with EGF, duodenal ulcer without EGF, or duodenal ulcer with EGF groups.Additionally, normal rats without operationserved as the control group. Duodenal ulcer was induced inrats by 300 mL / L acetic acid. Rats with EGF were orally administered at a dose of 60 μg / kg / day in drinking wateron the next day of operation ( day 1). Healing of duodenal ulcer was detected by haematoxylin and eosin staining. Cell growth of damaged mucosa was determined by the contents of nucleic acids and proteins. The level of EGF in duodenal mucosa was measured by ELISA .RESULTS: The pathological results showed that duodenal ulcer rats with EGF improved mucosal therapy compared with those without EGF on day 15. Duodenal ulcer rats with EGF significantly increased duodenal DNA contentcompared with those without EGF on day 15 (6.4 4 ± 0.54 mg / g vs. 1.45 ± 0.52 mg / g mucosa, P <0.05). Duodenal RNA and protein contents did not differ between duodenal ulcerrats with and without EGF during the experimental period. Sham operation and duodenal ulcer rats with EGF significantly augmented duodenal mucosal FGF content compared with the absence of EGF on day 5 (76.0 ± 13.7 ng / g vs 35.7 ± 12.9 ng / g mucosa in sham operation rats, and 68.3 ± 10.9 ng / gvs 28.3 ± 9.2 ng / g mucosa in duodenal ulcer rats, P < 0.05) .CONCLUSION: Oral EGF can promote mucosal healing of the rats with duodenal ulcer by stimulating mucosal proliferation accompanied by an increase in mucosal EGF content.