IO 



Scientific Proceedings (85). 



112 (1290) 



The determination and significance of intragastric conductance. 



By Olaf Bergeim. 



[From the Laboratory of Physiological Chemistry, Jefferson Medical 

 College, Philadelphia, Pa.] 



A retention stomach tube in the form of an electrolytic cell has 

 been devised which makes possible the determination of intra- 

 gastric conductances at any desired interval of time without 

 disturbance or removal of gastric contents. The tip contains 

 also a thermocouple which makes possible intragastric temperature 

 determinations and corrections, and an aspiration tube by means 

 of which samples of gastric contents may, if desired, be collected 

 for analysis. By means of this apparatus intragastric conductance 

 variations were studied in connection with determinations of total 

 acidity, free hydrocholoric acid, pepsin, and trypsin. 



The conductance of gastric juice is mainly due to the free 

 hydrochloric acid which it contains and the same is generally 

 true of the gastric contents. After the introduction of water or 

 solutions (as sugar solutions) of very low conductance, the curve 

 for conductance very closely follows the curve for free and total 

 acid. This indicates that the equalization of osmotic concentra- 

 tion is brought about primarily by secretion of normal gastric juice. 



After the ingestion of food containing protein the conductance 

 curve usually lies below that for free hydrochloric acid as deter- 

 mined by titration because the latter values are high due to gradual 

 dissociation of the protein salt. In the presence of weak organic 

 acid as after fruit ingestion or of phosphate, as where much saliva 

 is swallowed, the conductance falls below titration values and is 

 a better measure of free hydrochloric acid. 



Aside from the swallowing of saliva, the conductance of which 

 is low, intragastric conductance is, after the first hour or so of 

 digestion, almost always considerably modified by the regurgitation 

 of pancreatic juice or bile or both and possibly to a lesser extent 

 by pyloric and duodenal secretions. The conductance of pan- 

 creatic juice and bile being usually very low as compared with 

 that of the gastric contents at maximum acidity, regurgitation 



