Changes of the acid-forming function of the stomach in patients with iron deficiency anemia and their significance in iron assimilation
Ryss, E.S.; Rogozina, E.M.
Klinicheskaia Meditsina 53(11): 41-47
1975
ISSN/ISBN: 0023-2149 PMID: 1223512 Document Number: 96159
In 208 patients with Fe-deficiency anaemia, gastric acid secretion was estimated by measuring the hourly total secretion of HCl in basal conditions and the acid content of gastric juice secreted during submaximal and maximal stimulation by histamine. With submaximal stimulation, achlorhydria occurred in 38% of the patients and hypochlorhydria in 58%; with maximal stimulation the corresponding values were 24 and 71%. Clinical studies failed to show any clear relation between rate of gastric acid formation and that of Fe absorption. The results showed that factors acting in the lumen of the digestive tract, such as HCl (pH of the medium), ensure optimal conditions for Fe absorption, but they do not regulate Fe absorption and hence do not influence the course of Fe-deficiency anaemia.