Studies on duodenal gastrin concentrations in dogs following antrectomy and total gastrectomy

In extracts of the normal duodenum from dog minute amounts (2%) of gastrin are present compared to those extracted from the pyloric antrum (4). Despite that, basal levels of gastrin in plasma are not lowered when the antrum is surgically removed and test meal stimulation still significantly elevates the concentrations of plasma gastrin. When also the duodenal bulb is surgically removed basal gastrin levels decrease considerably and stimulation by a meal no longer raises the gastrin concentration in plasma (5). The related results suggest that extra-antral release of gastrin may take place under basal and stimulated conditions in dogs and that this release essentially occurs from the proximal portion of the duodenum, i.e. the duodenal bulb. Considering the low amounts of gastrin normally present in the duodenum of dog we found that levels of gastrin in plasma under basal and stimulated conditions after antrectomy surprisingly high and have therefore put forward the hypothesis that a compensatory increase in duodenal gastrin content takes place when the antrum is surgically removed (3). In the present study the relation between time following antrectomy and duodenal concentration of gastrin has been studied. In addition we also investigated how total gastrectomy influences the gastrin content of duodenum in dogs.