The metabolism of gastrin-34, gastrin-17, and gastrin-14 in the isolated perfused pig liver.

The degradation of porcine and human gastrin-34, -17, and -14 in the isolated pig liver was investigated in 13 perfusion experiments. The concentrations of gastrins in the perfusate were measured by radioimmunoassay, and the molecular nature was determined by gel chromatography. Gastrin-34 was neither eliminated nor converted to other molecular forms, whereas gastrin-17 and -14 were both degraded in the liver, gastrin-17 being degraded to measurable smaller forms during the process. It is suggested that the liver plays an important part in the regulation of circulating gastrins.