[Secretion of cortisol and growth hormone in patients with peptic ulcers of the stomach and the duodenal bulb].

A total of 42 patients with gastric ulcer and ulcer of the duodenal bulb were investigated. A decrease in the blood concentration of STH and cortisol, high indices of gastric acidifying function in the 2nd hour after insulin administration were noted in the patients with gastric ulcer indicating a decrease in the trophic influence of the hormones of the hypophysis-adrenal system on the GI tract, on the one hand, and raised sensitivity of parietal cells to the effects of this system, on the other hand. In the patients with duodenal ulcer the blood levels of STH and cortisol did not change, indices of gastric acidifying function within the 1st hour after insulin administration were higher than during the 2nd hour indicating an important role of the vagus nerve hypertonicity in the pathogenesis of this disease.