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The emptying time of the normal human stomach as influenced by acid and alkali with a review of the literature

The American Journal of Digestive Diseases

Summary

Gastric emptying time was investigated in a series of healthy young adults, known to have hydrochloric acid in their fasting gastric juice. The standard test meal consisted essentially of 15 grams of Quaker Farina, cooked to a constant volume with water; 50 grams of barium sulphate were added after the meal had cooled. The normal emptying time was ascertained by repeated fluoroscopic examination. There was considerable individual variation, but the emptying time of any individual remained remarkably constant from day to day.

It was found that a therapeutic dose of hydrochloric acid (100 cc. of a solution containing 2 cc. of diluted hydrochloric acid) produced an average delay of 9 per cent in the emptying time of the stomach in 9 subjects. This percentage delay was not statistically significant. A therapeutic dose of sodium bicarbonate (5 grams in 100 cc. water) was followed by an average decrease of 16.3 per cent in the emptying time of the stomach in 10 subjects; statistically this figure was highly significant. Di-sodium phosphate was studied, in an attempt to decide whether or not the hastening which followed administration of sodium bicarbonate was due to an alkalinizing effect, or to a specific effect of carbon dioxide. A therapeutic dose of the phosphate was used (4 grams dissolved in 100 cc. water); it produced an average decrease of 17.1 per cent in the gastric emptying time of three subjects. We interpret this as meaning that the action of alkali alone is capable of stimulating gastric motility.

Possible mechanisms to account for the effects produced by the acid and alkali are presented.

A review of the literature of the effects of acids and alkalies on the stomach is given.

Lastly, we feel that quantitative evidence as to the effects of therapeutic doses of commonly used acids and alkalies on the motor response of the normal stomach to a physiologic meal has been presented.

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This research was made possible through a grant from the Therapeutic Research Committee of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry of the American Medical Association. †From the Department of Physiology, West Virginia University, School of Medicine, Morgantown, West Virginia.

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Liere, E.J.V., Sleeth, C.K. The emptying time of the normal human stomach as influenced by acid and alkali with a review of the literature. American Journal of Digestive Diseases 7, 118–123 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02997180

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