Gastric Acid Secretion and Succinic Dehydrogenase in Parietal Cells

Abstract

Forty-five patients with various gastroduodenal disorders and 5 healthy subjects were examined by augmented histamine test and single gastric biopsy. Using MTT reagent, the succinic dehydrogenase-active parietal cells were stained in cryostat-cut sections, 7 microns thick. The maximal acid secretion (mEq H⁺ per hour) was significantly correlated to the number of succinic dehydrogenase-active parietal cells per unit of gastric mucosa, to the size of the parietal cells, and to the thickness of the parietal cell layer. Using the same methods, these correlations were also demonstrated among twenty-six patients in whom the gastric acid secretion had been lowered by gastric surgery (6 patients) or by administration of Glycopyrrolate, an anticholinergic drug (20 patients). Fifteen patients were examined before and after subcutaneous administration of Glycopyrrolate with an interval of two days. In these patients the fall in acid secretion after the administration of Glycopyrrolate was significantly correlated to the decrease in the succinic dehydrogenase-active parietal cell mass per unit of gastric mucosa.

Key-words:

• Stomach
• gastric mucosa
• gastric acidity determination
• histochemistry
• dehydrogenases
• anticholinergic drugs