Parietal cell responsiveness in duodenal ulcer.

One of the hypotheses advanced to explain the excessive acid secretion of patients with duodenal ulcer is that the acid secreting cells are abnormally sensitive to stimulation. We have studied the gastric response of normal individuals and of patients with duodenal ulcer to increasing amounts of a gastrin like pentapeptide given by continuous intravenous infusion and have found no difference between the responsiveness of the stomachs of these two groups of subjects.