Changes in gastric acid secretion assayed by endoscopic gastrin test before and after Helicobacter pylori eradication.

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 effects 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 different 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.