TGFA and ulcer disease: In rats with ulcers, leptin treatment (10 μg/kg BW) supports ulcer healing via production of nitric oxide (NO) and histamine, suppression of oxidative stress, and enhanced expression of transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α), a critical growth promoting factor for the gastric mucosa (Konturek et al., 2001; Erkasap et al., 2003; Motawi et al., 2008).