Effect of ranitidine on gastric acid and pepsin secretion following sham feeding

The effect of oral ranitidine 150 mg on the acid and pepsin response to sham feeding or pentagastrin was examined in healthy volunteers in a double-blind randomized trial. Gastric juice was collected up to 255 min after ingestion of the drug. In placebo treated subjects, basal acid secretion rate and the secretion rate following sham feeding and injection of 6 micrograms kg-1 of pentagastrin were 5.3 +/- 2.0 S.E.M., 12.3 +/- 3.2, and 24.4 +/- 5.4 mmol h-1, respectively. The corresponding values in ranitidine treated subjects were 0.1 +/- 0.1, 0.5 +/- 0.2, and 3.4 +/- 1.2, respectively. The reduction of acid secretion in all three instances is statistically significant (p less than 0.025, p less than 0.05, and p less than 0.05, respectively). Basal, sham feeding stimulated, and pentagastrin stimulated pepsin secretion rates in the placebo treated group were 38.4 +/- 7.0 S.E.M., 68.6 +/- 13.2, and 39.2 +/- 8.0 mg h-1, respectively. In the ranitidine treated group, the values were 5.0 +/- 3.4, 13.2 +/- 5.6, and 19.6 +/- 6.0, respectively. The reduction of pepsin secretion during basal state and following sham feeding is statistically significant (p less than 0.005 and p less than 0.01). Thus, oral ranitidine inhibits the acid and pepsin response to sham feeding in man. Its inhibitory effect on the acid response to pentagastrin lasts for at least 4 h.