SECRETION OF MUCUS AND ACID BY THE STOMACH IN HEALTHY PERSONS AND IN PERSONS WITH PEPTIC ULCER

Abstract

The importance of gastric mucus as a neutralizer of gastric acidity and as a protective coating mechanism has been stressed by Heidenhain,¹ Pavlov² and his school, Zweig,³ Webster,⁴ Bolton and Goodhart,⁵ Fogelson,⁶ Kim and Ivy,⁷ Babkin and Komarov⁸ and a number of other workers.⁹ Differing views have recently been advanced by Bonis,¹⁰ Kalk and Bonis¹¹ and Mitchell.¹² The work reported here was undertaken in order to find how much visible mucus and acid is secreted by persons suffering from peptic ulcer as compared with that secreted by normal persons. It was thought that a difference in the amount of mucus secreted by the two groups might be indicative of the protective mechanism of mucus against autodigestion of the stomach or the first part of the duodenum. The improbability of a protection of the duodenum by antitrypsin has been demonstrated in earlier papers.¹³ Gastric mucus is secreted by the cylindric surface