Experiments on the Primary Acidity of the Gastric Juice

Abstract

Summary. 1.The problem of the magnitude of the “primary acidity” of the parietal secretion of the stomach has been reinvestigated with a new, improved method. Its essential part consists in the utilization of the acid buffering power of glycocol combined with the employment of that substance as a “volume indicator”. With this method the acidity reducing diffusion processes are abolished and reliable volume measurements can also be carried out. 2.Experiments have been performed on cats and, in the main, on Heidenhain pouch dogs. In the latter case continuous, intravenous histamine injection has been used as a gastric acid stimulant which yields constant, controlable outputs of HC1 secretion. 3.The primary acidity (found by dividing the amount of titrable acid by the volume increment of an instilled, “isotonic” glycocol solution) has now been found to be variable and can be unexpectedly high. It ranges between 170 and about 350 mN. There is a definite relationship between the primary acidity value and the rate of secretion: The lower the secretion rate, the higher is the primary acidity. 4.The significance of the findings are discussed.