Conclusions
1. Cultures of the contents of fasting stomachs showed a bacterial growth that paralleled the hydrogen-ion concentration of this material in approximately the following manner:
2. Continuing the observations over a three and one-half hour period showed a variation in hydrogenion concentration. This was associated with a parallel change in the viable bacterial flora.
3. The alterations in the hydrogen-ion concentration of the gastric contents produced by the ingestion of dilute mineral or organic acids were associated with a decrease in the viable bacteria flora. The ingestion of buffered alkaline solutions were associated with an increase in the viable gastric flora.
4. The addition of 50 c.c. of 1 per cent hydrochloric acid to the fasting stomach shows a retention of free acid for approximately one and one-half hours. This period was reduced to somewhat less than one hour if food was ingested.
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The Research Laboratories of the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Department of Bacteriology and Public Health and the Department of Medicine, University of Illinois, College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
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Hood, M., Arnold, L. The relation between the acid-base equilibrium and the gastric bacterial flora. American Journal of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition 4, 95–99 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03010335
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03010335