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Plasma gastrin-34 increases during and immediately after breast-feeding in 3-day-old infants
G Marchini1, I Redham, K Uvnäs-Moberg
1Department of Pediatrics KS-S. Göran, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Insights
Plasma gastrin concentration significantly increases in infants during and immediately after breast-feeding. This study measured gastrin and somatostatin levels in newborns to understand feeding-related peptide changes.
Area of Science:
- Endocrinology
- Neonatal Physiology
Background:
- Gastrin plays a role in gastrointestinal function.
- Previous studies have not clearly established gastrin level changes during infant breast-feeding.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the changes in plasma gastrin concentration in infants during and immediately after breast-feeding.
- To analyze the levels of somatostatin, a gastrin release modulator, concurrently.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study involving 72 healthy, 3-day-old infants.
- Measurement of plasma gastrin and somatostatin using radioimmunoassay (RIA).
- Characterization of peptides by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
Main Results:
- Plasma gastrin levels significantly increased from pre-feeding levels (63 +/- 24 pmol/L) to post-feeding levels (92-102 pmol/L).
- Gastrin concentration showed a significant rise 5, 10 minutes, and immediately after the initiation of sucking.
- Plasma somatostatin concentrations remained unaffected by breast-feeding.
- HPLC analysis confirmed circulating gastrin as gastrin-34 and somatostatin as somatostatin-14.
Conclusions:
- Plasma gastrin concentration significantly increases during and immediately after breast-feeding in infants.
- The findings contrast with some earlier studies, highlighting a distinct physiological response during neonatal feeding.
- Somatostatin levels do not appear to be modulated by the feeding process in this neonatal cohort.
Abstract:
We examined whether plasma gastrin concentration increases during breast-feeding in infants. The peptide concentration was measured cross-sectionally before, during, and after breast-feeding in healthy, 3-day-old infants (n = 72). Somatostatin, a modulator of gastrin release, was also analyzed. Both peptides were measured by radioimmunoassay and were further characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The (mean +/- SD) concentration of gastrin rose significantly from 63 +/- 24 pmol/L before feeding to 92 +/- 32 pmol/L (p less than 0.01) and 95 +/- 21 pmol/L (p less than 0.01), 5 and 10 min after the initiation of sucking, respectively. The gastrin concentration was 102 +/- 35 pmol/L (p less than 0.01) immediately after feeding. Plasma somatostatin concentration was unaffected by feeding. As assessed by HPLC, circulating gastrin before, during, and after feeding was found to correspond to gastrin-34, whereas circulating somatostatin was found to correspond to somatostatin-14. We conclude that in contrast to earlier studies, plasma gastrin concentration increases during and immediately after breast-feeding in infants.