Abstract
A retention stomach tube in the form of an electrolytic cell has been devised which makes possible the determination of intragastric conductances at any desired interval of time without disturbance or removal of gastric contents. The tip contains also a thermocouple which makes possible intragastric temperature determinations and corrections, and an aspiration tube by means of which samples of gastric contents may, if desired, be collected for analysis. By means of this apparatus intragastric conductance variations were studied in connection with determinations of total acidity, free hydrocholoric acid, pepsin, and trypsin.
The conductance of gastric juice is mainly due to the free hydrochloric acid which it contains and the same is generally true of the gastric contents. After the introduction of water or solutions (as sugar solutions) of very low conductance, the curve for conductance very closely follows the curve for free and total acid. This indicates that the equalization of osmotic concentration is brought about primarily by secretion of normal gastric juice.
After the ingestion of food containing protein the conductance curve usually lies below that for free hydrochloric acid as determined by titration because the latter values are high due to gradual dissociation of the protein salt. In the presence of weak organic acid as after fruit ingestion or of phosphate, as where much saliva is swallowed, the conductance falls below titration values and is a better measure of free hydrochloric acid.
Aside from the swallowing of saliva, the conductance of which is low, intragastric conductance is, after the first hour or so of digestion, almost always considerably modified by the regurgitation of pancreatic juice or bile or both and possibly to a lesser extent by pyloric and duodenal secretions. The conductance of pancreatic juice and bile being usually very low as compared with that of the gastric contents at maximum acidity, regurgitation tends to markedly lower intragastric conductance as well as acidity.
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