To determine the effect of Helicobacter pylori eradication on parietal cell sensitivity and gastric acid secretion.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS: RESULTS: H pylori was eradicated in 66% of patients receiving
sucralfate and 92% receiving
ranitidine. Compared with healthy volunteers, DU patients demonstrated a 2.7-fold greater basal
acid output, a 1.3-fold greater peak
acid output, significantly higher
acid output for each dose of
pentagastrin and a 1.38-fold increase in the area under the
pentagastrin dose
acid response curve. Cure of H pylori, irrespective of
ulcer healing regimen, resulted in a gradual decrease in
acid secretory capacity with basal
acid output, peak
acid output and area under the
pentagastrin dose
acid response curve returning to healthy volunteer levels by one year. No demonstrable differences were observed in parietal cell sensitivity in all subjects before or
after treatment. These data suggest that disturbances in
acid secretion in H pylori-positive DU patients are not due to an increased parietal cell sensitivity to
pentagastrin but rather due to an increased parietal cell mass with increased capacity to secrete
acid, which gradually resolves following cure.