Correlation of lower esophageal sphincter pressure and serum gastrin level in man

Resting lower esophageal sphincter pressures and fasting serum gastrin levels were measured in 35 consecutive patients. 28 of these patients were subdivided into Group I, which consisted of 9 patients with symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux and hiatus hernia, and Group II was further subdivided into Group IIA, 5 patients with hiatus hernias, and Group IIB, 14 patients without hiatus hernia. Mean LES pressures for Groups I, IIA, and IIB were 9.7, 36.8, and 25.6 cm H2O, and serum gastrin levels were 129, 74, and 116 pg/ml, respectively. Examination of these data as a whole or as subgroups failed to demonstrate a correlation between these two variables. The remaining 7 patients had abnormal sphincters (3 patients which scleroderma and 2 with achalasia) or abnormal serum gastrin levels (1 patient with pernicious anemia and 1 patient with antrectomy and Billroth II anastomosis). For these patients as well, no correlation between LES pressure and serum gastrin level was found. These results cast doubt on the hypothesis that endogenous gastrin is a major factor in the maintenance of resting LES pressure.