Catecholamine concentrations in biopsied gastroduodenal tissue specimens of patients with duodenal ulcer.

We measured dopamine and norepinephrine concentrations in the biopsied gastroduodenal mucosa obtained from 12 ulcer-free dyspeptic patients, nine patients with active duodenal ulcer, and eight patients with inactive (or healed) duodenal ulcer using a high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection method. Biopsy specimens were taken from endoscopically normal-appearing mucosa in the gastric body and antrum as well as in the duodenal bulb. Additional specimens were obtained from the outer edge of the ulcer margin in patients with active duodenal ulcer. The mean (+/- SD) mucosal dopamine concentrations in the gastric body and duodenum (7.6 +/- 2.8 and 6.8 +/- 2.6 pg/mg tissue) obtained from patients with inactive duodenal ulcer were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than those from dyspeptic patients (13.6 +/- 6.9 and 10.9 +/- 3.5 pg/mg tissue, respectively). In contrast, no significant differences were observed in the mean norepinephrine concentrations in these gastroduodenal tissues among the three study groups. However, the mean mucosal norepinephrine concentration in the outer edge of duodenal ulcer (86.2 +/- 125.6 pg/mg tissue) was significantly (P < 0.05 and 0.01) reduced as compared with that in the ulcer-free area of duodenum obtained from patients with inactive duodenal ulcer (257.1 +/- 188.2 pg/mg tissue) and from dyspeptic patients (276.8 +/- 138.3 pg/mg tissue). The results suggest that an alteration in the catecholaminergic system may be associated with one of the pathogenic factors of duodenal ulcer.