Effects of proximal gastric vagotomy and antrectomy on parietal cell function in humans

Both proximal gastric vagotomy and antrectomy reduce maximal gastric acid secretion in vivo by about 60%. The combination of vagotomy and antrectomy reduces the maximal acid secretion by about 80%. This additive effect indicates that these surgical procedures differ in their mode of action. The function of isolated human oxyntic glands was studied before and after vagotomy and antrectomy, respectively, using radioactively labeled aminopyrine as a marker of parietal cell response. The basal accumulation increased after vagotomy, suggesting a vagally controlled inhibitory component. The carbachol response disappeared and the maximal response induced by histamine or dibutyryl-cyclic adenosine monophosphate was reduced by 60% (p less than 0.01) after vagotomy. This reduction could not be overcome by increasing the dose of dibutyryl-cyclic adenosine monophosphate. This indicates an intracellular effect of vagotomy peripheral to dibutyryl-cyclic adenosine monophosphate point of action. Antrectomy did not induce any statistically significant change at the glandular level, indicating that the reduced gastric acid secretion in vivo may be caused by a reduction in the number of oxyntic glands due to a removal of a trophic effect of antral gastrin.