Gastric acid secretory responses to graded intravenous doses of histamine in hookworm anemia

Dose-response curves for the effect of continuous infusion of histamine on gastric acid secretion were obtained in 10 patients with iron deficiency anemia due to hookworm infection. Each patient was studied with 4 doses (40, 60, 80 and 100 mug/kg/h) of histamine acid phosphate administered for 3 h, on separate days, in random fashion. The acid output increased with the dose of histamine, the maximal acid output was reached in all patients at the dose of 100 mug/kg/h. The dose of histamine when calculated according to body weight correlated well with the maximal acid output; the absolute dose of histamine had no correlation with the maximal acid response. The dose-response curve of stimulated acid output in anemia patients was much flatter than in control patients.