N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) at doses of 10 or 25 mg/kg body weight, given subcutaneously 20 minutes before, dose-dependently and significantly reduces the severity of gastric glandular ulcers induced by restraint at 4°C (stress) for 2 hours.

These findings suggest that reduced activity of endogenous nonprotein sulfhydryl substances in gastric tissue does not worsen stress-induced ulceration in rat stomachs, unlike the deleterious effect its depletion is claimed to have on ethanol-evoked gastric mucosal damage.

Thus, decreased SH activity appears not to play a role in the etiology of mucosal ulcers due to stress.