gastrins and Exocrine-Pancreatic-Insufficiency

Gastric lipase contributes significantly to overall lipolysis and is regulated by interacting neuro-hormonal mechanisms. Patients with alcoholic chronic pancreatitis (ACP) have low, or even absent, activity of pancreatic lipases. In that state the secretion of gastric lipase could be essential and compensate for the pancreatic defect. However, conflicting studies have not resolved the order of magnitude of gastric lipase secretion in these patients. This could be explained by differences in regulatory mechanisms, gastric mucosal changes, and abdominal vagal tone.. Nasogastric intubation with modified sham feeding and upper endoscopy including biopsies for histologic classification and Helicobacter pylori infection status were performed in eight ACP patients, and eight healthy volunteers were studied on separate occasions. Vagal nerve function was assessed by calculation of heart rate variability in ACP patients. Gastric lipase was measured in aspirates by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and an enzyme kinetic assay. Plasma concentrations of gastrin, secretin, cholecystokinin, and pancreatic polypeptide were measured throughout the study.. Sham feeding rapidly and significantly increased gastric lipase secretion in healthy volunteers, whereas ACP patients did not respond to sham feeding. Two of eight patients were infected with H. pylori and had mucosal changes accordingly. The lack of lipase response could not be ascribed to dysfunction of the abdominal vagus.. The cephalic phase of gastric lipase secretion is impaired in ACP patients. Although their fundic cells continue to secrete gastric lipase, they are not subject to normal neuro-hormonal regulation.

Topics: Adult; Biopsy; Chronic Disease; Endoscopy, Digestive System; Enteral Nutrition; Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency; Female; Gastric Acid; Gastrins; Gastritis; Humans; Lipase; Lipolysis; Male; Middle Aged; Pancreatitis, Alcoholic

Patients with chronic pancreatitis and exocrine insufficiency have lower intraduodenal pH compared to controls. It has been assumed that abnormal low intraduodenal pH in these patients not only results from impaired pancreatic bicarbonate secretion but also from an increased gastric acid load to the duodenum.. We have tested this hypothesis by combined intragastric and intraduodenal 24 h pH monitoring in nine chronic pancreatitis patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and nine healthy control subjects during standardized test conditions. Postprandial gastrin and cholecystokinin release were also determined.. Median 24-h intraduodenal pH (5.90 vs. 6.00) and intragastric pH (1.60 vs. 1.70) were not significantly different between patients and controls. However, in the 2-h postprandial periods intraduodenal pH was below five for a significantly higher percentage of time in chronic pancreatitis patients compared to controls (lunch: 14.5% vs. 0.17%, P=0.011; dinner: 24.1% vs. 5.75%, P=0.05). The post-dinner intragastric pH was below three for a significantly higher percentage of time in chronic pancreatitis patients vs. controls (72.2 vs. 48.9%, P=0.04). Postprandial gastrin release was not significantly different between the two groups. Postprandial secretion of cholecystokinin (CCK), as enterogastrone, was significantly (P < 0.01) reduced in chronic pancreatitis patients (78 +/- 13 pmol/L, 120 min) compared to controls (155 +/- 14 pmol/L, 120 min).. Median intraduodenal and intragastric pH are not significantly decreased in patients with chronic pancreatitis and exocrine insufficiency but the postprandial time with an acidic pH in the duodenum (pH < 5) and in the stomach (pH < 3) is significantly (P

Topics: Adult; Case-Control Studies; Cholecystokinin; Chronic Disease; Duodenum; Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency; Female; Gastric Mucosa; Gastrins; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Male; Middle Aged; Pancreatitis; Postprandial Period; Time Factors

Gastrin is an important stimulator of gastric lipase secretion in man. In advanced pancreatic insufficiency gastric lipases might compensate for the lack of pancreatic lipases, but the role of gastrin in such compensation remains to be evaluated. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of gastrin on the gastric lipase secretion in patients with pancreatic insufficiency.. Eight patients with pancreatic insufficiency secondary to alcohol abuse were studied, and six healthy subjects volunteered as controls for the study. All volunteers received identical doses of intravenous gastrin-17 (10, 30, and 60 pmol/kg/h). The gastric content was measured, using a nasogastric tube for aspiration, and the amount and activity of gastric lipase output were determined. Plasma concentrations of gastrin, secretin, and cholecystokinin were measured by radioimmunoassays.. The increased plasma levels of gastrin were accompanied by a dose-dependent increase in the amount and activity of gastric lipase in controls, but in the patients the response was almost abolished.. Gastrin in postprandial concentrations does not influence the secretion of gastric lipase in patients with pancreatic insufficiency due to chronic pancreatitis.

Topics: Adult; Case-Control Studies; Cholecystokinin; Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency; Female; Gastric Mucosa; Gastrins; Hormones; Humans; Lipase; Male; Middle Aged; Pancreatitis, Alcoholic; Secretin

A case of duodenal somatostatinoma is described in a patient with Von Recklinghausen neurofibromatosis. The patient presented with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, probably due to distal obstruction of the pancreatic duct by the tumor. Preoperative evaluation with calcium-pentagastrin and tolbutamide stimulation tests were nondiagnostic. At laparotomy, local excision of the tumor was performed. Pathological findings were compatible with duodenal somatostatinoma, causing pancreatic fibrosis. Somatostatin extracted from the tumor coeluted with the somatostatin-14 standard on high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Topics: Adult; Biopsy; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Duodenal Neoplasms; Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency; Female; Fibrosis; Gastrins; Glucagon; Humans; Microscopy, Electron; Neurofibromatosis 1; Pancreas; Pancreatic Polypeptide; Radioimmunoassay; Somatostatin; Somatostatinoma; Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide

The entero-insular hormonal axis was studied in eleven conscious Beagle dogs, loaded with glucose orally and intravenously. In five of them, exocrine pancreatic atrophy was induced by pancreatic duct occlusion with prolamine, and documented by means of the p-amino-benzoic acid test. After oral glucose, the duct-occluded dogs displayed higher blood glucose (log area 4.12 +/- 0.07 versus 3.76 +/- 0.10; p less than 0.01), less plasma insulin (log area 3.56 +/- 0.08 versus 3.99 +/- 0.08; p less than 0.01) and less cholecystokinin-like immunoreactivity (log area 2.64 +/- 0.09 versus 3.10 +/- 0.14; p less than 0.01) than controls. In controls, the peripheral venous insulin concentrations were higher after oral than after isoglycaemic intravenous glucose, and this difference was no longer demonstrable in duct-occluded dogs. In the latter, gel permeation chromatography of pool plasma after oral glucose revealed a relative decrease of cholecystokinin-like immunoreactivity species, which eluted at the positions of sulphated cholecystokinin octapeptide, cholecystokinin-33 and cholecystokinin-39, and at a position intermediate between these two. Also in the duct-occluded animals, intravenous infusion of sulphated cholecystokinin octapeptide, in addition to oral glucose, resulted in an increase in plasma insulin (log area 3.83 +/- 0.10 versus 3.64 +/- 0.06; p less than 0.01) and an improvement in oral glucose tolerance. It is concluded that in the dog 1) the absence of pancreatic acinar tissue is associated with a loss of gastrointestinal factors mediating glucose-induced insulin secretion, and 2) reduction of circulating endogenous cholecystokinin species may account at least in part for this defect.

Topics: Animals; Blood Glucose; Cholecystokinin; Chromatography, Gel; Dogs; Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency; Gastric Inhibitory Polypeptide; Gastrins; Glucose; Insulin; Insulin Secretion; Male; Sincalide

Oral pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy generally benefits patients with severe pancreatic deficiency. However, the fate of oral pancreatic supplements in the digestive lumen and their possible effects on circulating gut hormones are only partially known. The purpose of this article is to validate an experimental model that produces total pancreatic insufficiency in pigs, and to study the fate of orally administered Eurobiol, a whole pancreas lyophilized preparation, and its effects on circulating plasma levels of five digestive hormones. Pancreatic insufficiency was created by pancreatic duct ligation, and the duodenal, jejunal and ileal contents were sampled through cannulas before a normal meal and 0.5-24 h later. Blood samples were taken at the same times, and plasma neurotensin, pancreatic polypeptide, secretin, cholecystokinin (CCK), and gastrin were measured. In pigs with pancreatic insufficiency, Eurobiol, given during the meal, induced a significant increase in all enzyme activities in the duodenum and the jejunum, and in the levels of amylase, trypsin, and chymotrypsin in the ileum, relative to placebo. In the duodenum, the peak concentrations of enzyme activities were 19, 11, 17, and 29% (p less than 0.001) of the postprandial peak activities measured in control pigs with an intact pancreas for lipase, amylase, trypsin, and chymotrypsin, respectively. In the jejunum, the same activities were, respectively, 30, 11, 25, and 36% (p less than 0.01-0.001) of normal peaks. In pigs with pancreatic insufficiency, basal and integrated meal-stimulated neurotensin levels were increased; basal, peak, and integrated meal-stimulated pancreatic polypeptide and secretin levels were increased, whereas gastrin and CCK were not different from controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Administration, Oral; Amylases; Animals; Cholecystokinin; Chymotrypsin; Disease Models, Animal; Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency; Gastrins; Intestines; Lipase; Male; Neurotensin; Pancreas; Pancreatic Extracts; Pancreatic Polypeptide; Secretin; Swine; Trypsin

Topics: Adolescent; Child; Child, Preschool; Cholecystokinin; Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency; Gastrins; Glucagon; Humans; Insulin; Insulin Secretion; Stimulation, Chemical

It has been claimed that plasma cholecystokinin (CCK) concentrations are raised in patients with pancreatic insufficiency. We have measured plasma CCK concentrations in 32 patients with pancreatic insufficiency (22 alcoholic pancreatitis and 10 cystic fibrosis) and in 30 normal subjects by radioimmunoassays using antibodies with different specificities. Antibody 1703 binds to COOH-terminal forms of CCK containing at least 14 amino acid residues and does not cross-react with gastrins. Antibody T204 binds to all CCK-peptides containing the sulfated tyrosyl region and shows low cross-reactivity with sulfated gastrins but no binding to nonsulfated gastrins. Antibody 5135 binds to all COOH-terminal CCK-peptides and shows full cross-reactivity with gastrins. In patients with pancreatic insufficiency, plasma CCK concentrations (1.2 +/- 0.1 pmol/liter, antibody 1703; 2.0 +/- 0.2 pmol/liter, antibody T204; 12.5 +/- 1.4 pmol/liter, antibody 5135) were not significantly different from those in normal subjects (1.1 +/- 0.1 pmol/liter, antibody 1703; 2.2 +/- 0.3 pmol/liter, antibody T204; 10.5 +/- 0.9 pmol/liter, antibody 5135). Furthermore, plasma CCK concentrations in patients with pancreatic insufficiency due to alcoholic pancreatitis (1.2 +/- 0.1 pmol/liter, antibody 1703; 1.9 +/- 0.2 pmol/liter, antibody T204; 14.0 +/- 1.9 pmol/liter, antibody 5135) were not significantly different from those in patients with cystic fibrosis (1.2 +/- 0.2 pmol/liter, antibody 1703; 2.4 +/- 0.4 pmol/liter, antibody T204, 9.1 +/- 1.0 pmol/liter, antibody 5135). Cross-reactivity with gastrin accounted for almost all CCK-like-immunoreactivity measured with antibody 5135.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Adult; Aged; Alcoholism; Antibodies; Antibody Specificity; Binding Sites, Antibody; Cholecystokinin; Cross Reactions; Cystic Fibrosis; Diabetes Mellitus; Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency; Female; Gastrins; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Pancreatitis; Radioimmunoassay