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The pH/PCO2 method for continuous determination of human gastric acid and bicarbonate secretion. A validation study.

BACKGROUND
The present paper describes and evaluates a methodologic approach for registration of the fast, interdigestive, motility-related changes in gastric acid and bicarbonate outputs seen in man.


METHODS
The technique is based on continuous gastric luminal perfusion and measurements of pH and PCO2 in gastric effluent and concomitant intragastric/duodenal manometry. Fourteen healthy volunteers participated.


RESULTS
Direct acid secretory estimations from pH recordings, corrected for hydrogen ion activity, correlated closely with values obtained by conventional titration. After intragastric infusion of bicarbonate, 96 +/- 5% of the newly measured steady-state value was registered virtually instantaneously provided that corrections for the PCO2 electrode time constant and the perfusion/aspiration time were made. In the neutral pH range (pH 5-7), practically full quantitative recovery of intragastrically infused bicarbonate was obtained. In the acid pH interval (pH 2-5) the recovery was significantly lower (53 +/- 6%; p < 0.01). With an aspirate without air admixture and during high perfusion rates (31 and 46 ml/min), full recovery of bicarbonate was obtained also at an acid pH, whereas a reduced perfusion rate (16 ml/min) significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the recovery rate.


CONCLUSIONS
With the pH/PCO2 technique both acid and bicarbonate assessments have a close to on-line time resolution. Acid output is measured accurately, but the method potentially underestimates actual bicarbonate levels in the acid pH range, a combined effect of diffusion of CO2 into air bubbles in the aspirate and into the gastric mucosa from the lumen. A high gastric perfusion rate minimizes this source of error. The pH/PCO2 technique is well suited for studies of the interaction between secretion and motility in the human stomach.