Gastrin response to meals of different composition in normal subjects.

Abstract

SUMMARY The serum gastrin responses and the integrated gastrin responses to eating three meals of very different composition were studied in the same normal subjects on different days. Two meals, a milk meal of 500 ml, and a breakfast of eggs, toast, butter, marmalade, fruit juice and coffee, were eaten at breakfast time. The serum gastrin responses to these meals were compared and contrasted with the concentrations observed when the subjects fasted over the same time of day. A steak meal was eaten at lunch time. There were no significant differences between the mean serum gastrin concentrations to the three meals but each meal produced a significant increase in serum gastrin above fasting levels. When the prefeeding gastrin concentration was subtracted from the gastrin responses then the integrated responses to the steak meal were greater than those to either of the breakfast meals.Considerable variability in response to any one meal was observed within the group of subjects, but those subjects who produced high serum gastrin concentrations to one meal did so to the others. Conversely, a low response to one meal was reflected in low responses to the other two meals. Fasting serum gastrin concentration was correlated with the age of the subject. Repeatability of the response to one meal was tested in two subjects who ate the same meal on four separate occasions showing their responses to be repeatable.In the past decade the radioimmunoassay of gastrin has provided a new and sensitive tool which enables gastroenterologists to measure plasma gastrin concentrations in all manner of conditions, including the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (Isenberg, Walsh, Passaro, Moore, and Grossman, 1972 (Ganguli and Hunter, 1972).In the quest to understand better the physiology of gastric secretion and to investigate the possible role of gastrin in the aetiology of peptic ulceration, different workers have used a variety of meals to stimulate and study gastrin secretion. The composition of the meals have ranged from two Oxo cubes (Byrnes, Young, Chisholm, and Lazarus, 1970), through a standard breakfast of boiled eggs, fruit juice, toast, marmalade and coffee to the more substantial steak meal and a sweet (Wyllie, Boulos,

Relationship of the Gastrin Response to the Amount of Food Ingested in Normal Subjects

“…The need to standardize the feeding tests used to assess the gastrin response to food ingestion in man has been pointed out by Blair et al (2). Among the sources of variations the composition of the meal and the amount of food 160-o 150g V; 2.6*2.37X r=0.95 p< 0.001…”

“…The influence of the composition of the meal and the reproduc ibility of the gastrin response to a standard meal must indeed be established. To our knowledge, only Blair et al (2) compared in the same subjects the plasma gastrin response to meals of different composition and tested the reproducibility of the response.…”

Gastrin response to protein test meal in gastric diseases.

“…But no clear-cut difference was observed in the gastrin release between the two test meals mentioned above. The need to standardize the releasing test of gastrin has been pointed out by Blair et al (1975). Various kinds of foods such as liquid meal, steak and meat extract were employed in many reports, but the results were not satisfactory.…”

“…Therefore, liver extract, meat extract and various kinds of meals are often used for testing gastrin release. In this respect, Blair et al (1975) reported that there were no significant differences in the peak gastrin response after meals varying in composition. In order to standardize the feeding test used to assess the gastrin response, protein feeding tests were employed.…”

Communications

“…glucose BY N. F. KNIGHT*, A. P. MARR, D. J. SANDERS, C. W. VENABLES* and S. ZAHEDI-ASL. Physiology and Surgery* Departments, The Medical School, Newcastle upon Tyne NEJ 7RU We have previously reported to the Society that after eating a standard breakfast (Blair, Greenwell, Grund, Reed & Sanders, 1975), a group of patients with endoscopically proven active duodenal ulcer (DU) had significantly higher plasma insulin, significantly lower plasma glucose concentrations (Knight, Sanders, Venables & Zahedi-Asl, 1980), and higher plasma glucose-dependent insulinotrophic peptide (GIP) and gut glucagon concentrations than control (Knight, Marr, Moody, Sanders, Venables & Zahedi-Asl, 1981). We concluded that the high plasma GIP probably caused the high plasma insulin concentrations which in turn caused the low glucose concentrations in DU patients.…”