ETIOLOGY OF DUODENAL ULCER

Abstract

The possibility that the concentration of pepsinogen in the blood serum might be correlated with other measurable structural or functional characteristics was investigated in 2,262 men selected randomly at a large army induction center. Pepsinogen values were expressed as micrograms of tyrosine released by the action of 1 ml. of serum in a standard assay procedure. The mean value for 2,031 of these men was 440 units, with a standard deviation of 136. Duodenal ulcer was found in 13 men and gastric ulcer in 1; the mean pepsinogen value for the 14 men was 707 and was significantly higher than that of the group as a whole. A low positive correlation was found between the pepsinogen value and a man's position in his family in that the average value for oldest children was higher than the corresponding figures for younger or only children, but there was no significant correlation with objective measures of social behavior or over-all military performance.