The gastric proton pump H+/K(+)-ATPase in the parietal cell is central to acid secretion into the stomach. We performed the following experiment to examine the pattern of expression of the alpha- and beta-subunits of the H+/K(+)-ATPase at the transcriptional level during 7 days' application of the proton pump inhibitor omeprazole, in relation to the expression of gastrin and histamine, two stimuli of gastric acid secretion. Serum gastrin concentrations and mRNA levels of antral gastrin, fundic histidine decarboxylase (HDC) and H+/K(+)-ATPase alpha- and beta-subunits were determined after 8 h, 1, 3 and 7 days. Omeprazole treatment rapidly caused an increase in the serum gastrin concentration and the antral gastrin mRNA level after 3 days. HDC mRNA expression showed a steady increase with a 5-fold induction after 1 week. However, mRNA levels of the alpha- and beta-subunits of the H+/K(+)-ATPase were unchanged during the course of omeprazole treatment. These results suggest that omeprazole inhibition of the gastric proton pump does not result in feedback activation of H+/K(+)-ATPase gene expression despite adaptive changes of the endocrine stomach.