Effect of intravenous calcium administration on gastric secretion of acid and pepsin in man.

EDITORIAL COMMENT An acute rise in the serum calcium increases acid and pepsin secretion and this effect is abolished by vagotomy.Despite reports of the association of hyperparathyroidism and peptic ulcer (Rogers, Keating, Morlock, and Barker, 1947; Black, 1953; Hellstr6m, 1959), the relationship cannot be accepted as proven (Ostrow, Blanshard, and Gray, 1960).The issue is clouded by the differing figures given for the incidence of peptic ulcer in the community (Ivy, Grossman, and Bachrach, 1950;Jones, 1959;Ellison, Abrams, and Smith, 1959), the common occurrence of dyspeptic symptoms in patients with hyperparathyroidism who have no ulcer (Gutman, Swenson, and Parsons, 1934; St. Goar, 1957), and the association of parathyroid and pancreatic adenomas, where peptic ulceration may be related to the latter.This apparent association between hyperparathyroidism and peptic ulcer raises the question of a possible relationship between serum calcium levels and gastric function.Previous studies on the effects of parathyroidectomy on gastric secretion in patients with hyperparathyroidism have produced conflicting results (Donegan and Spiro, 1960;