Impaired gastric function in children with cow's milk intolerance.

Eight infants with cow's milk intolerance (CMI) were studied for basal and maximal gastric acid secretion and the fasting serum gastrin level. All these patients had clinical malabsorption. Jejunal biopsies revealed subtotal villous atrophy in six children and slight changes in the remaining two. The mean maximal acid secretion in the infants with CMI was significantly decreased being 85 +/- 78 mumol/h/kg (mean +/- SD), as compared with a control group of the same age with a corresponding value of 233 +/- 66 mumol/h/kg. The fasting serum gastrin level was elevated, being 104 +/- 116 pmol/l in the study group and 37 +/- 10 in the controls. Three infants with CMI underwent gastric biopsy. Marked changes with epithelial degeneration and prominent cellularity in the lamina propria were seen in two patients. The injury was most severe in the antrum of the stomach. When these patients with CMI were treated with human or soy milk, the maximal acid secretion returned normal in six months.