A SECRETORY DEPRESSANT IN GASTRIC JUICE OF PATIENTS WITH PERNICIOUS ANEMIA 1

Abstract

The gastric juices from 16 of 18 patients with pernicious anemia and achlor-hydria, when injected intraven. into dogs with gastric pouches, the secretion of which had been stimulated by feeding, resulted in a transitory marked depression of the pouch secretion and achlorhydria (89% of the samples). The inj. of gastric juices from 34 hospitalized patients not having pernicious anemia or malignant neoplasms yielded similar gastric secretory inhibition in 6 instances (18% of the samples). The secretory depressant effect of a sample of human gastric juice was abolished by boiling for 10 mins. The hypothesis that achlorhydria, in pernicious anemia at least, is associated with the presence of some gastric secretory inhibitor or to some profound distortion of normal hormonal control of gastric function is discussed.