[Serum gastrin in patients with nonalcoholic liver cirrhosis]

Serum gastrin before and after a low-lipid glycoprotein meal was studied in patients with viral cirrhosis (without associated alcoholism) and controls. Cirrhotics are at high risk of peptic ulceration and most authors have attributed this to their gastrin levels which in many studies are higher in cirrhotics than controls. Since such studies involved patients with cirrhosis from a variety of causes, mostly alcohol (which in itself causes a rise in gastrin levels and an increased risk of peptic ulceration), we believed it necessary to evaluate gastrin levels before and after stimulation in patients with non-alcoholic cirrhosis, i.e. in those with viral cirrhosis.