Correlation Between Gastric Acid Secretion and Histology in Indian Subjects

Gastric biopsy was performed on 102 subjects comprising: control subjects (25), patients suffering from vague gastrointestinal symptoms (42), tropical sprue (24) and iron deficiency anaemia (11). The correlation between histology of gastric mucosa and acid output on augmented histamine test (AHT) was studied in 51 subjects and on histamine-infusion test (H-I.T) in 69 subjects. A good correlation was observed between histology of gastric mucosa (single biopsy) and acid output both on A.H.T and H-I.T. Furthermore, in subjects from India showing normal gastric mucosa, acid output on H-I.T. was found to be comparable to that reported in patients from Britain but comparatively lower values were observed on A.H.T.