Abstract
The acidity of the gastric juice is the result of the secretion of fluid at least as rich in chloride ion as the blood plasma but less concentrated with respect to fixed base. It has long been known that the sodium ion concentration in gastric juice is less than in blood plasma in direct ratio with the free acidity of the juice. The behavior of the other metallic cations has not been so carefully studied. Bliss 1 showed that the average potassium content of the gastric juice in the dog and man was consistently higher than the normal potassium concentration in the blood plasma. He presented no simultaneous analytical figures for blood and gastric juice in the same individuals, and consequently his conclusions could not be taken without qualification. Austin and Gammon 2 studied the potassium concentration in gastric juice but made no comparison with the concentration in the blood. We found it, therefore, of importance to study simultaneously the concentrations of sodium and potassium in the gastric juice in relation to their concentration in the blood at the time of secretion.
Dogs under ether or amytal anesthesia were used. The pylorus was cannulated and gastric juice collected after the injection of .03 mg. histamine in Ringer's fluid intravenously. Sodium was estimated by the Kolthof and Barber method 3 and potassium by the method of Breh and Gaebler. 4
In 24 experiments in which the sodium and potassium concentrations in blood plasma and gastric juice have been studied we have found that the concentration of potassium is invariably greater in the gastric juice than in the plasma, and sometimes the former may be as much as 4 times the latter.
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