Low plasma cholecystokinin response after ingestion of a test meal in patients with chronic pancreatitis.

Postprandial responses of plasma cholecystokinin (CCK) in patients with severe chronic pancreatitis (n = 7) were studied. Plasma CCK level rose from 11.2 +/- 1.8 pg/ml at the basal level to a maximum of 23.3 +/- 3.0 pg/ml at 10 min after the ingestion of a liquid meal in healthy subjects (n = 6). However, such significant plasma CCK response to the meal was not observed in patients with chronic pancreatitis in whom CCK levels rose from a basal level of 9.7 +/- 0.91 pg/ml to a peak of 13.8 +/- 1.6 pg/ml at 60 min. It is suggested that the low response of CCK after the meal might reflect impaired function of the enteropancreatic axis to intraluminal stimuli in patients with severe chronic pancreatitis.