A long lasting gastrin response to apomorphine revealed by inhibitors of gastric acid secretion.

Gastrin levels, in the peripheral venous blood of conscious dogs treated with apomorphine (0.05 mg/kg IV), were analysed with a radioimmunoassay. Pretreatment (30 min) with the gastric acid inhibitors cimetidine, ranitidine (H2 receptor antagonists, 4 mg/kg and 1 mg/kg respectively) or omeprazole (H+-K+ ATPase inhibitor, 1.6 mg/kg) prolonged the elevation of gastrin levels occurring in response to an administration of apomorphine. Haloperidol (0.1 mg/kg), but not the peripheral dopamine receptor antagonist domperidone (0.2 mg/kg), abolished the enhanced gastrin response to apomorphine occurring after pretreatment with cimetidine. Cimetidine did not increase the gastrin response to apomorphine in vagotomized dogs. The results are interpreted in terms of an additive gastrin response to apomorphine (different from the short lasting initial peak previously described) which is vagally mediated and inhibited by the gastric acid.