Serum gastrin in duodenal ulcer

Following truncal vagotomy and anterior pylorectomy for duodenal ulcer, fasting serum gastrin levels were higher at 84 ± 7.9 pg per ml than in unoperated patients with duodenal ulcer (16 ± 1.5 pg per ml). In response to a standard protein meal, the peak serum gastrin achieved in the vagotomized group was 259 ± 37.8 pg per ml at 75 minutes after ingestion, a much higher response than that obtained with a standard meal plus prior atropinization in the unoperated duodenal ulcer patients. These results suggest that truncal vagotomy allows release of gastrin which was previously inhibited with the vagi intact and the temporal characteristics of the response indicate that some of this gastrin is derived from an extragastric source. The results also exemplify the dependence of gastrin estimations as measured by this immunoassay on the acidity of the contents bathing the gastric antrum.