It has been known that ethanol stimulates the secretion of gastric acid regardless of its route of administration. Recently, however, some studies have challenged this view and claimed that ethanol inhibits the gastric acid secretion. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of ethanol on the gastric acid secretion in anesthetized rat in respect to the route of administration and the concentration of alcohol. Normal saline (pH adjusted to 6.0) was used as standard perfusion solution and ethanol was mixed as 0.8, 1.7, 5, 10 and 20%. Four ml of perfusion fluid was given into stomach via gastric tube and drained from duodenal tube every 5 min. Acid secretion was measured by back titration to pH 6.0 with N/20 NaOH and expressed as μEq/5 min. Low concentration of ethanol up to 1.7% in perfusion solution caused little changes in acid secretion, but moderate concentration such as perfusion of 5% or 10% ethanol solution inhibited both the basal and histamine-induced gastric secretion. Moreover, loss of perfused acid was seen by 20% ethanol, which means back diffusion of hydrogen ions into the gastric mucosa. However, intravenous administration of ethanol, maintained at the level of 0.1% alcohol in blood, caused significant stimulation of gastric acid. We, therefore, conclude that in anesthetized rat ethanol has dual effects on acid secretion, i.e., inhibiting and enhancing by oral and intravenous administration, respectively, but further investigation is necessary to clarify these effects.