Effect of Vitamin Deficiency on Gastric Secretion

Voegtlin and Myers 1 suggested the identity of vitamin B and secretin, but this could not be confirmed by Anrep and Drummond, 2 Downs and Eddy 3 nor Cowgill and Mendel, 4 who reported that this vitamin exhibits no effect on the liver, salivary or pancreatic secretions. Cowgill, Deuel and Smith 5 state that the restorative action of vitamin B on the appetite is not due to stimulation of gastric secretion, but they made no investigation of the stomach secretions. Miyadere 6 found a great diminution of the secretion from the Pavlov pouch on a vitamin-free diet, yet 100 cc. of 5% alcohol introduced into the main stomach provoked a flow of gastric juice. Farnum 7 reported a diminution in the volume and acidity of the secretion from Pavlov pouches in dogs kept on a beri-beri diet in response to a standard autoclaved meal, to histamine, but not to “gastrin.” Her results were somewhat irregular, however, and not quite conclusive. Recently Cowgill 8 quoted Gilman's thesis of 1931 reporting the development of gastric achlorhydria in animals fed on diets lacking vitamin B.

Three dogs with oesophagotomy, gastric fistula and obstructed pylorus were maintained by us in good health for several months with duodenal feedings. One animal had also the pyloric antrum resected. These animals offered an excellent opportunity for the study of vitamin-deficient diets, since ample nourishment could be introduced independently of the capriciousness of the dogs' appetite or its disappearance in vitamin B deficiency. Many abnormalities in animals deprived of vitamin B might be the result of inanition arising from anorexia and not the specific effect of vitamin B deficiency.