Measurement of meal-stimulated gastric acid secretion by in vivo gastric autotitration.

Measurement of meal- stimulated gastric acid secretion using manual intragastric titration is demanding in terms of personnel and specialized equipment. In the present study, we used a new method, in vivo gastric autotitration, to determine meal-stimulated gastric acid secretion. Gastric pH was measured every 4 s before, during, and after ingestion of a standard meal in 24 healthy subjects. Placebo, ranitidine (150 mg), ranitidine (75 mg), or famotidine (10 mg) was given 1 h after the beginning of the meal. Meal-stimulated gastric acid secretion was calculated from the amount of HCl required to titrate the homogenized standard meal to pH 2 in vitro (119 mmol) and the time required for the pH of the ingested meal to decrease to pH 2 in vivo. Values for pH were also converted to acid concentration (mM), and integrated acidity was calculated from the cumulative, time-weighted means of the acid concentrations for every fourth second of the postprandial recording period. Control meal-stimulated gastric acid secretion was 60 (40-71) mmol/h (median; interquartile range), and each histamine H(2)-receptor antagonist significantly decreased secretion by approximately 50%. Meal-stimulated acid secretion correlated directly with postprandial integrated gastric acidity (r = 0.72; P = 0.0001). Thus intragastric autotitration is a convenient, reproducible method for measuring gastric acid secretion after ingestion of a solid meal and offers several advantages over manual intragastric titration.