Jejunal Inhibition of Gastric Acid Secretion Induced by Hypertonic Glucose in Duodenal Ulcer Patients Before and After Truncal Vagotomy

The effect of intrajejunal infusion of hypertonic glucose on pentagastrin-stimulated (0.5 microgram/kg-hr) gastric acid secretion was studied in eight duodenal ulcer patients before and three to five months after truncal vagotomy. Preoperatively mean acid output was reduced from 44.0 +/- 3.1 meq H+/hr to 29.2 +/- 2.9 meq H+/hr (p less than 0.05), whereas no consistent changes were found postoperatively, suggesting that jejunal inhibition of gastric acid secretion induced by hypertonic glucose primarily is under vegal control. Furthermore, the study shows that glucose induced jejunal inhibition of acid secretion seems to be less pronouced in duodenal ulcer patients than previously found in healthy subjects.