Reduction of 24-hour gastric acidity by different dietary regimens: a randomized controlled study in healthy...

Evidence from animal experiments suggests that intraduodenal infusion of nutrients leads to an inhibition of gastric acid secretion via an enterogastric feedback mechanism. Detailed data are lacking, however, on the difference in circadian gastric acidity between gastric and intraduodenal alimentation in man. We conducted a randomized study in 10 healthy volunteers (5 men, 5 women, age 22-30 yr). From 8:00 am of the first study day until 4:00 pm of the next day, either a standardized normal meal or a liquid polymer diet (Fresubin) was given orally at 8:00 am, noon, and 6:00 pm. In a third experiment, a liquid hydrolysed diet (Survimed OPD) was continuously applied to the duodenum using a portable pump. Daily caloric intake and main nutrient components were comparable in all three diets. From 2:00 pm of the first day until 4:00 pm of the next day, an intragastric pH-metry was performed with a combined glass pH-electrode in the gastric corpus. Median pH-values from predefined time periods (whole day, prandial, interdigestive, nocturnal) were compared between the three groups. The orally applied liquid polymer diet led to a significantly stronger increase in 24-hr and prandial gastric pH than the normal diet. Twenty-four-hr, interdigestive, and nocturnal pH-median values were significantly higher during continuous intraduodenal application of the liquid hydrolysed diet than during the normal diet.