Gastrin In Patients Research Articles

Effect of vagotomy on serum gastrin in patients with duodenal ulceration.

SummaryThe concept of increased vagal activity in patients with duodenal ulceration was investigated by observing the effect of medical and surgical vagotomy on the secretion of gastrin.Using a radioimmunoassay technique fasting serum levels of gastrin were determined in 41 normal subjects, 40 patients with duodenal ulceration and 16 patients following vagotomy. The effect of atropine on gastrin secretion was observed in a further 2 patients with duodenal ulceration.The patients with duodenal ulceration were found to have elevated serum levels of gastrin. The 8 patients with “complete” vagotomy had significantly lower serum levels of gastrin than the patients with duodenal ulceration, the patients with an “incomplete” vagotomy or the normal subjects. Post‐vagotomy hypergastrinaemia was associated with a recurrence of ulceration.The abolition, by medical or surgical vagotomy, of the hypergastrinaemia associated with duodenal ulceration is consistent with the hypothesis of an increased vagal tone in this disease. These studies also suggest that gastrin estimations may be useful in predicting the presence of inadequate vagotomies.

Serum Gastrin in Patients with Peptic Ulceration

The fasting serum level of gastrin was determined by radioimmunoassay in 41 normal subjects, 27 patients with duodenal ulceration, 12 patients with gastric ulceration, and 8 patients following "complete" vagotomy. The patients with duodenal ulceration had significantly higher serum levels of gastrin (1.3 +/- S.D. 0.7 ng./ml.) than normal subjects (0.4 +/- S.D. 0.3 ng./ml.), patients with gastric ulceration (0.4 +/- S.D. 0.4 ng./ml.), or post-vagotomy patients (0.15 +/- S.D. 0.2 ng./ml.).The gastrin secretion in both normal subjects and patients with duodenal ulceration was responsive to protein ingestion, but a larger incremental secretion of gastrin occurred in the latter group. Hyperglycaemia significantly suppressed the serum level of gastrin in both groups. The patients with gastric ulceration had fasting and postprandial serum gastrin levels not significantly different from normal subjects.