Spontaneous decrease in gastric secretory response to humoral stimuli.

The gastric response to pentagastrin was studied over a period of seven months in a healthy 25-year-old man without symptoms or history of gastrointestinal disease. An abrupt impairment of the gastric response to several stimulants was observed one month after starting the tests. Periodic testing since that time has shown no reversion to the type of response seen during the initial period of testing. A second subject with proved chronic duodenal ulceration presented an identical change in pattern of gastric response to stimulants.This study suggests that such a variation in the response to gastric stimulation in a subject with a normal stomach should be borne in mind when interpreting results of gastric secretory studies.