Differences in Rates of Gastrin Release in Normal Persons and Patients with Duodenal-Ulcer Disease

To compare gastrin release in response to a physiologic stimulus in normal persons and in patients with duodenal-ulcer disease, serum gastrin levels were measured in 22 patients with duodenal ulcer and 10 control subjects before ingestion of a protein-rich meal (180 g of beef) and five 15-minute intervals thereafter. The mean fasting serum gastrin concentration for the 22 patients with duodenal ulcer (76 ± 7.0 S.E.M. pg per milliliter) did not differ from that of the control subjects (71 ± 9.4 pg per milliliter). However, mean serum gastrin concentrations in the patients with duodenal ulcer were significantly greater than those of the control subjects 45, 60, and 75 minutes after feeding. The integrated gastrin response to feeding in these patients (99 ± 25 per cent) substantially and significantly (p less than 0.01) exceeded that of the control population (44 ± 10 per cent). Thus, increased gastrin release occurs in response to feeding in such patients as compared with normal persons, and, in spite of the absence of fasting hypergastrinemia, indicates the potential importance of gastrin in the hypersecretory state that frequently characterizes duodenal-ulcer disease.