Relations between Serum Gastrin Levels and Rates of Gastric Hydrochloric Acid Secretion

Abstract

Fasting venous serum gastrin concentrations and both unstimulated and maximum-stimulated gastric hydrochloric acid secretory rates were determined in 168 subjects. The patients included 55 with duodenal peptic-ulcer disease, nine with gastric ulcers and 69 with assorted gastrointestinal abnormalities, and 35 control subjects without recognized gastrointestinal diseases. Fasting serum gastrin concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay and compared for groups of patients with differing rates of basal and stimulated gastric acid secretion. There was, in general, an inverse relation between fasting serum gastrin concentrations and rates of gastric hydrochloric acid secretion. Fasting serum gastrin concentrations in patients with duodenal-ulcer disease were not found to be significantly greater than those of the control subjects. However, mean serum gastrin concentrations in the patients with gastric-ulcer disease were found to be significantly greater than those of both the control subjects and the patients with duodenal-ulcer disease.