Studies on inhibin-like peptide in gastric juice and serum of patients with duodenal ulcers.

Immunoreactive inhibin-like material (ILM) was measured by radioimmunoassay in serum and gastric juice samples of 23 fasting normal men and 23 men with duodenal ulcers (DU). Concentrations of ILM in gastric juice and serum of patients with DU were significantly higher than those in normal men (P less than 0.01). A strong positive correlation (r = 0.894) was observed between pH and ILM levels in gastric juice of normal men but not in patients with DU. Inhibin-like material in the gastric juice had a chromatographic profile similar to that of human seminal plasma.