Disappearance of gastrin and pentagastrin in the portal circulation.

Experiments on dogs and rats showed that synthetic human gastrin I was inactivated in the small bowel but not in the liver, whereas pentagastrin was rapidly inactivated by the liver. Similar results were obtained with tissue homogenates. The significance of these results is discussed in relation to the probably increased incidence of peptic ulceration following extensive small-bowel resection in man.