Gastric Secretion of Pepsin in Early Childhood

Abstract

In 18 children, 9–30 months of age, without gastrointestinal disorders, the gastric secretion of pepsin was studied before and after augmented histamine stimulation. Histamine resulted in a slight increase of the hourly pepsin output, which, however, was not significantly higher than in the basal hour. The basal pepsin output was significantly correlated to age and body surface area, while the stimulated pepsin output was not significantly correlated to age, body-weight, body surface area, basal pepsin output, or stimulated acid output.