Background-It remains controversial whether or not Helicobacter pylori infection causes altered gastric acid secretion. A novel test for evaluating gastric acid secretion (endoscopic gastrin test; EGT) has recently been developed. Aim-To investigate by EGT the eVects of H pylori eradication on the state of gastric acid secretion in patients with peptic ulcer. Methods-Twenty six patients with duodenal ulcer and 33 with gastric ulcer, for all of whom H pylori infection had been documented, were studied by EGT, histological examination of gastric mucosa, and measurement of plasma gastrin levels before and one and seven months after H pylori eradication. Results-In patients with duodenal ulcer, the mean EGT value before H pylori eradication was higher than that in H pylori negative controls, but it had decreased significantly seven months after the treatment. In contrast, the mean EGT value of patients with gastric ulcer before H pylori eradication was lower than that in H pylori negative controls, but it had increased one month after the treatment; this was followed by a slight decrease at seven months. In both groups, mean EGT values seven months after the treatment were not significantly diVerent from the mean control value. Conclusions-The reduced acid secretion in gastric ulcer patients and gastric acid hypersecretion in duodenal ulcer patients were both normalised after the clearance of H pylori.

The EGT should be very useful as a rapid, simple substitute for conventional secretory testing when repeated gastric secretory tests are required, especially in investigating the effect of H. pylori on acid secretion in a larger population.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract