Serum group I pepsinogens in children.

Serum group I pepsinogens (PG I) were determined by a radioimmunoassay method in blood drawn from premature and newborn infants, children of various ages, a control group of young healthy adults, and a group of women at delivery. Very low concentrations of PG I were found in blood of prematures and newborns, and there was no correlation between serum PG I in women at delivery and their newborn full-term infants. Serum PG I rose abruptly during the early months of life, but remained significantly reduced up to the age of 10 years. These findings are in agreement with those reports showing an increasing pepsin secretion during childhood, and thus indirectly lend support to the use of serum PG I as an estimate of gastric pepsin secretion.