Central nervous system inhibition of gastric secretion in the rat by gastrin-releasing peptide, a mammalian bombesin.

Gastrin-releasing peptide is a 27-amino acid peptide recently isolated from porcine gut. It shares a common C-terminal decapeptide homology with bombesin (except for a His/Gln interchange at residue 8 from C-terminus). Synthetic porcine gastrin-releasing peptide was shown to release gastrin 5 min after intravenous injection in rats. Given intracisternally (0.3--3 microgram), but not intravenously (1--10 micrograms), gastrin-releasing peptide caused a dose-dependent reduction in gastric secretion (volume and acidity) and elevation in plasma gastrin levels measured 2 h after peptide injection and pylorus ligation in rats. Gastrin-releasing peptide given intracisternally had long acting, reversible, and specific inhibitory effects. Gastrin-releasing peptide blocked the secretion of acid evoked by 2-deoxy-D-glucose or TRH given intracisternally or by histamine given subcutaneously. The acetylated C-terminal octapeptide fragment of gastrin-releasing peptide inhibited gastric acid secretion as effectively as gastrin-releasing peptide. Acetylated C-terminal heptapeptide did not. These results demonstrated that gastrin-releasing peptide has the capability to act in the brain to inhibit basal and stimulated gastric secretion and its antisecretory effect does not depend on a decrease in gastrin release. The presence of bombesin immunoactivity in rat brain and its ability to act through the brain to inhibit gastric acid secretion suggest that bombesinlike peptides may be chemical messengers involved in central nervous regulation of gastric secretion.