[Serum pepsinogen: its value as index of basal and stimulated gastric acid secretion (author's transl)].

Group I pepsinogen serum levels (PG I) and gastric acid outputs were determined before ("basal") and after pentagastrin or insulin stimulation in 13 patients with active duodenal ulcer and in 4 patients with hyperselective vagotomy. There was a statistically significant correlation between basal PG I serum level and basal acid output (r = 0,88, p less than 0,01) and between PG I serum level 45 min after stimulation and peak acid output (r = 0,68, p less than 0,01). However, the scattering of individual values was such that serum PG I cannot be used as an index of gastric acid secretion in clinical practice.