High gastric bile acid concentration in prepyloric ulcer patients.

The intragastric concentrations of bile acid (BAC) and pH were measured over 24 h in 13 patients with duodenal (DU), in 11 with prepyloric (PU) ulcer disease, and in 12 healthy controls. Large fluctuations in bile acid concentration occurred for individuals from all three groups. PU patients had BACs higher than DU patients and controls both during the day (p less than 0.01 and p less than 0.001) and at night (p less than 0.001 and p less than 0.05). Controls had a significantly higher BAC during the night than the day (p less than 0.001). The acidity was significantly higher in DU patients than in controls both during the day and night (p less than 0.05). Compared with PU patients, the DU patients had higher acidity at night (p less than 0.01).