1.   Carpenter assumed that increased fluid secretion began shortly after toxin administration but that net fluid production was not observed until the rate of secretion exceeded the rate of absorption.

2.   Thus H pylori infection combined with active ulceration may cause the increased basal acid secretion seen in duodenal ulcer disease.

3.   It is widely held that the increased basal acid secretion in patients with duodenal ulcer disease is determined by vagal drive rather than circulating gastrin.

4.   This hypergastrinaemia may account for the increased acid secretion seen in some duodenal ulcer patients and may be one mechanism whereby H pylori contributes to the ulcer diathesis.

5.   If this were the case one would also expect to find increased basal secretion in smokers -- in our study this was not the case.

6.   Helicobacter pylori raises serum gastrin but it is unclear whether this stimulates increased acid secretion.