Limitation of the damage to the organs such as heart, liver, intestine, stomach and brain by an earlier brief complete occlusion of their arteries is defined as ischemic preconditioning (IP). No study so for has been undertaken to check whether brain-gut axis is involved in the gastroprotection exhibited by gastric IP or in that induced by repeated brief episodes of ischemia of remote organs such as heart and liver. This study was designed to determine the possible involvement of vagal and sensory afferent nerves, in the mechanism of gastric and remote organ IP on the gastric mucosa in rats exposed to prolonged ischemia-reperfusion with or without functional ablation of sensory nerves by capsaicin or in those with removed vagal innervation by vagotomy. This gastric IP was induced by short ischemia episodes (occlusion of celiac artery 1-5 times for 5 min) applied 30 min before subsequent ischemia followed by 3 h of reperfusion (I/R) and compared with remote IP induced by occlusion of left descending coronary artery or hepatic artery plus portal vein. The area of gastric lesions was determined by planimetry, gastric blood flow (GBF) was measured by H(2)-gas clearance method and mucosal biopsy samples were taken for the assessment of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) by RIA. Exposure of gastric mucosa to standard 3 h of I/R produced numerous gastric lesions and significant fall in the GBF and mucosal CGRP content. Two 5 min short ischemic episodes by occlusion of coronary or hepatic arteries, significantly reduced gastric damage induced by I/R with the extent similar to that exhibited by two short (5 min) episodes of gastric ischemia. These protective effects of gastric and remote IPs were accompanied by a restoration of the fall in the CGRP content caused by I/R alone. Protection and hyperemia induced by gastric IP were significantly attenuated in capsaicin-denervated or vagotomized animals and completely removed in those exposed to the combination of vagotomy and capsaicin-denervation. The IP-induced protection and hyperemia were restored by the administration of exogenous CGRP to gastric IP in capsaicin-treated animals. Gastroprotective and hyperemic actions of remote IP were markedly diminished in capsaicin-denervated rats and in those subjected to vagotomy. We conclude that brief ischemia in remote organs such as heart and liver protects gastric mucosa against gastric injury induced by I/R as effectively as gastric IP via mechanism involving both vagal and sensory nerves releasing vasodilatatory mediators such as CGRP.