title: Acid secretion and serum gastrin levels in individuals with Campylobacter pylori.
abstract: Campylobacter pylori may cause gastritis and has been proposed as an etiologic factor in the development of peptic ulcer. However, it may be an acid-sensitive microbe and before it can be implicated in the pathogenesis of peptic ulcer, it should be consistently found in ulcer patients with normal acid secretion. Thirty-six patients with C. pylori by Warthin-Starry stain underwent gastric analysis; 25 were normochlorhydric and 11 hypochlorhydric. Ulcers were present in 19 normochlorhydric patients (10, gastric; 9, duodenal) and 2 hypochlorhydric patients (gastric). Median basal acid output was higher for those with duodenal ulcer (38 mmol/h) than gastric ulcer (28 mmol/h) or miscellaneous endoscopic features (33 mmol/h). The hypergastrinemia seen in 12 patients with negative secretin provocation tests was believed to be due to various nongastrinoma conditions. Campylobacter pylori was found in 6 normogastrinemic patients with elevated acid output and in 1 gastrinoma patient with marked acid hypersecretion. Histologic chronic gastritis was present in all subjects and 29 had active chronic gastritis. Twenty-three patients were taking H2-receptor antagonists at the time of diagnosis which did not seem to interfere with culture results. Using standard acid secretory tests, we conclude that C. pylori can survive in a wide range of acid conditions.
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology Service, Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas.
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Brady
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Hadfield
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hyatt
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Utts
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002167:Campylobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004381:Duodenal Ulcer / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005744:Gastric Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D005755:Gastrins / Q000097:blood*; D005756:Gastritis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D005755:Gastrins