Amino acid in gastric juice of peptic ulcer patients.

To clarify the protein metabolism in peptic ulcer disease, the amino acid content was determined in gastric juice of gastric ulcer patients (n = 30), duodenal ulcer patients (n = 16), gastroduodenal ulcer patients (n = 8), and hospital controls (n = 8). The amino acid output in the gastric ulcer group was greater than that of the hospital control both in basal and maximal secretion. In the duodenal ulcer group of patients who were high secretors of gastric juice, the amino acid concentration was low, so the amino acid output was also lower than that of the hospital control group. Tetragastrin did not increase the amino acid output in the gastric juice. The amino acid amount may be decided also by the architecture of the gastric mucosa and not only by the ulcer lesion itself. The protein loss from gastric mucosa may well result in hypoproteinemia in peptic ulcer disease of the stomach.