Effects of troxipide on several acute gastric lesions in rats were investigated in comparison with those of cetraxate. Troxipide (100, 200, 300 mg/kg) and cetraxate (100, 300, 1,000 mg/kg), given orally, dose-dependently protected the gastric mucosa from damage due to ethanol. Aspirin- and 0.6 N HCl-induced gastric lesions were dose-dependently inhibited by troxipide (200, 300 mg/kg), but only significantly inhibited by cetraxate at high dose (1,000 mg/kg). Troxipide (100, 200, 300 mg/kg) dose-dependently prevented the formation of gastric lesions induced by water-immersion stress, whereas cetraxate (600, 1,000 mg/kg) also significantly prevented gastric lesions. That is, protective effects of troxipide were much more potent than those of cetraxate against aspirin-, 0.6 N HCl- and water-immersion stress-induced gastric lesions, whereas both were almost equal against ethanol-induced gastric lesions. In addition, cytoprotective effects of troxipide against ethanol-induced lesions were most remarkable at 10, 30, 60 min after administration (100, 300 mg/kg) and lasted for up to 240 min. These results suggested that troxipide might be useful for the treatment of acute gastric lesions in humans.