Release of antral gastrin in response to an intestinal meal in dogs

This study was designed to determine whether gastrin is released by the antrum in response to an intestinal meal in dogs. Two groups of anesthetized dogs were prepared with innervated antral pouches. The antrum and duodenum were separated by complete division at the pylorus to prevent duodenoantral reflux. The duodenum and proximal jejunum were perfused with 10% liver extract at 200 ml/hr. In one group of six dogs a significant elevation of antral vein gastrin levels was observed after 45 minutes. Gastrin levels in portal and peripheral blood were not significantly elevated. In another group of eight dogs, in which antral veins were not cannulated, a significant rise in peripheral gastrin concentration was noted after 60 minutes. We conclude that gastrin is released by the antrum during the intestinal phase of gastric acid secretion; significantly increased levels of gastrin are detected in both antral and peripheral venous blood. Duodenoantral reflux, as a possible cause of this release, is ruled out by complete surgical separation between duodenum and antrum.