Duodenal Inhibitor Mechanism in Duodenal Ulcer Patients

¹ From the Wadsworth Hospital, Veterans Administration Center, Los Angeles, and the Department of Surgery, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

Acid in the duodenum immediately inhibits the motility of the stomach, the "enterogastric reflex." A quantitative measure of this inhibition was made in 11 patients with duodenal ulcer and 11 normal individuals. One hundred milliliters of N/20 HCl and 50 ml of N/100 HCl were infused directly into the duodenum and the duration of motility inhibition measured with a transducer-recorder. No significant difference was found between the normals and the duodenal ulcer patients. It is concluded that a deficiency in the duodenal inhibitor mechanism is probably not a factor in duodenal ulcer disease.