Serum group I pepsinogens in unoperated duodenal ulcer patients and in duodenal ulcer patients after proximal gastric vagotomy.

Thirty-three duodenal ulcer patients (group A) were examined for gastric acid secretion capacity and serum group I pepsinogens (PG I) under basal conditions. Another group of 36 duodenal ulcer patients (group B), who had undergone proximal gastric vagotomy (PGV) 1 year previously, were similarly examined. Mean basal acid output, mean insulin-stimulated peak acid output, and mean pentagastrin-stimulated peak acid output in the conservatively treated group were 4.5 meq/h, 25.1 meq/h, and 34.4 meq/h, respectively. The corresponding values in the PGV group were 2.5 meq/h, 6.7 meq/h, and 18.5 meq/h. The mean serum PG I concentration in group A was 103.6 ng/ml and in group B 69.9 ng/ml, whereas the mean serum PG I concentration in 34 healthy control subjects was 47.9 ng/ml. The differences in serum PG I concentrations between all three groups were statistically significant (p less than 0.05). An elevated concentration of serum PG I is associated with clinical ulcer disease in unoperated patients, but the wide overlap in the PG I concentration area between duodenal ulcer patients and healthy persons limits the use of PG I determinations in disturbances of gastric acid secretion.