Plasma gastrin concentration related to acid secretion during insulin hypoglycaemia

The release of gastrin by insulin hypoglycaemia was studied in man before and after vagotomy. Completeness of vagotomy was judged by the gastric acid response to the same hypoglycaemia, using several criteria including one that allows for pyloric losses and duodenogastric reflux. A total of 137 tests was performed on 10 subjects. The plasma gastrin concentration was found to rise in the preoperative studies and also in the postoperative studies no matter what type of vagotomy had been performed or what criteria of completeness of vagotomy were used. We concluded that gastrin can be released in response to hypoglycaemia in the absence of the vagus nerve.