Effect of a long term cholinergic therapy on the gastric acid secretion and on the calculated acid concentration of the parietal component in hypochlorhydric patients.

Fourteen hypochlorhydric patients suffering from atrophic gastritis were tested with pentagastrin and randomly distributed in groups treated per os : one by a placebo, the other by eserine amine oxide. In the placebo group we did not observe a variation in the acid output nor in the acid concentration of the parietal component. In the patients treated with eserine amine oxide, the acid secretion and the acid concentration of the parietal component increased on treatment (p less than 0.01). In two other groups of hypochlorhydric patients tested with pentagastrin (n = 25) or with histamine ( n = 38) and treated for periods of one to three months we also observed an increase in the acid output and the acid concentration of the parietal component. These facts could be explained by an increase in the number of functional cell units, accompanied by a qualitative variation in the parietal component during treatment the patients suffering from atrophic gastritis.