Food-stimulated acid secretion measured by intragastric titration with bicarbonate in patients with duodenal and gastric ulcer disease and in controls.

Gastric acid secretion stimulated by a normally eaten beefsteak meal was measured for 4 h in 16 patients with duodenal ulcer disease (DU), in 9 patients with gastric ulcer disease (GU), and in 14 controls by intragastric titration with bicarbonate to a constant pH 5.5. Reproducibility of the method investigated in 6 DU and in 5 controls gave similar acid secretory values (var. coeff. = 7.5%). DU produced acid on a higher level and with longer duration after food than controls and GU (p less than 0.001). Apart from the second half of the first hour after food, when the acid secretion was higher in controls than in GU (p less than 0.025), there was no significant difference in acid output after food between GU and controls. Maximum gastrin values and 'total gastrin output' after food were significantly higher in GU than in controls, but these differences were not significant between GU and DU and between DU and controls. Fasting gastrin and gastrin levels after food were not correlated to basal acid output or acid output after pentagastrin or food in any of the groups. The maximal acid output after food was higher than the peak acid output after pentagastrin in controls, DU and GU. The relation between food- and pentagastrin-stimulated acid output was not statistically significantly different between the three groups. Instead, acid secretion after food was well correlated to acid secretion after pentagastrin in controls, DU and GU (r = 0.85).