Serum gastrin in patients with peptic ulceration.

The fasting serum level of gastrin was determined by radioimmunoassay in 41 normal subjects, 27 patients with duodenal ulceration, 12 patients with gastric ulceration, and 8 patients following "complete" vagotomy. The patients with duodenal ulceration had significantly higher serum levels of gastrin (1.3 +/- S.D. 0.7 ng./ml.) than normal subjects (0.4 +/- S.D. 0.3 ng./ml.), patients with gastric ulceration (0.4 +/- S.D. 0.4 ng./ml.), or post-vagotomy patients (0.15 +/- S.D. 0.2 ng./ml.).The gastrin secretion in both normal subjects and patients with duodenal ulceration was responsive to protein ingestion, but a larger incremental secretion of gastrin occurred in the latter group. Hyperglycaemia significantly suppressed the serum level of gastrin in both groups. The patients with gastric ulceration had fasting and postprandial serum gastrin levels not significantly different from normal subjects.