Hypergastrinaemia produces trophic effects in stomach but not in pancreas and intestines

Hypo- or anacidity, caused by antisecretagogues, stimulates gastrin release and leads to hypergastrinaemia. If drug treatment is maintained over a period of time, the hypergastrinaemia can be expected to give rise to trophic effects. We examined the trophic consequences of the very marked hypergastrinaemia produced by long-term treatment (16-20 weeks) of rats with large doses of the substituted benzimidazole, omeprazole, a potent and long-acting blocker of acid secretion. The weight of the stomach and the oxyntic mucosal thickness were increased, whereas the weight of the pancreas and the intestines and the thickness of the mucosa of the antrum and small and large intestine were unaffected. The number of exocrine cells (parietal, zymogen and mucous cells) were uniformly increased by 25-30%. The density of parietal and zymogen cells, expressed as number of cell nuclei per mm2 epithelium, was unchanged. The volume density of parietal cells, expressed as % of epithelial volume, was also unchanged, implying that the volume of the individual parietal cell had not increased. The density of endocrine ECL cells in the stomach increased 5-fold. Thus, the findings demonstrate a growth-promoting effect of the hypergastrinaemia on the oxyntic mucosa, the ECL cells in particular, and the lack of such an effect on the antrum, pancreas and intestines.