Gastric acid secretion in gastric fistula dogs after antral denervation and antrectomy.

Acid secretion in Pavlov pouches in dogs is known to increase after antrectomy in response to histamine and gastrin. Dogs with gastric fistulae were tested with histamine and tetragastrin as a control study. The vagal nerve fibers to the antrum were divided and the dogs underwent repeat testing. Finally an antrectomy was performed and final dose-response data were collected. After antrectomy there was an increased acid response to histamine and tetragastrin. We postulate that the vagal fibers innervating the antrum are probably not a factor in this increase. Furthermore, we believe that the increased acid secretion after antrectomy observed in the dog and the decrease known to occur in the human being is a species difference and is not related to the pouch method of study used in earlier studies of the antrectomized dog.