Functional study of the gastric mucosal barrier in hepatic cirrhosis.

The net ionic flux through the gastric wall was determined in eleven patients with hepatic cirrhosis and five normal controls. The back-diffusion of C1- and H+ was significantly increased in the cirrhotic group. In nine patients of this group the H+ loss was above the upper limits of normal. The Na+ flux was positive in both the control and the cirrhotic group. The Na+ flux towards the gastric cavity in the cirrhotic patients was not proportional to the loss of H+. Vasodilatation and edema of the lamina propria was always present as judged by gastric biopsy; in five cases mucosal hemorrhage was observed, in three superficial epithelial desquamation and in one melaena due to hemorrhagic gastritis. One the basis of the increase in H+ loss and the histological findings, we suspect an alteration in the gastric mucosal barrier in the patients with hepatic cirrhosis.