Background: Previous reports have shown that in some reflux-oesophagitis patients omeprazole therapy alters salivary secretion. The aim of the study was to examine this effect in duodenal ulcer patients.
Material and methods: Thirty nine Helicobacter pylori positive subjects of both sexes, predominantly men, were recruited for the study. They were taking for two weeks only omeprazole (n = 17), or omeprazole in combination with either amoxycillin or amoxycillin and tinidazole (n = 22). Salivary secretion was assessed before and at the end of the treatment, both in basal conditions and during a gastric secretory test. Gastric secretion was monitored concurrently with salivary flow rate. Additionally gastritis score and serum gastrin levels were assessed.
Results: Basal salivary secretions remained unchanged in patients on omeprazole monotherapy, but decreased in five of eight saliva collection periods in patients on eradication regimens. During the gastric secretory test, salivary secretions fell in both groups, but only after pentagastrin stimulation (in one collection period in patients on omeprazole, and in three collection periods in patients on eradication therapy). The observed changes in salivary secretion were inversely related to the pre-treatment gastric pH values.
Conclusion: The influence of omeprazole and omeprazole-based eradication therapies on salivary flow rate is presumably secondary to changes in gastric pH values and is likely to be related to oesophago-salivary reflex generation.