Fasting blood levels of gastrin, somatostatin, and pancreatic polypeptide in peptic ulcer disease

Abstract

Fasting plasma levels of immunoreactive gastrin, somatostatin, and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) were determined in 67 patients with an endoscopically proven duodenal, pyloric, or prepyloric ulcer. Pretreatment gastrin (45.6 +/- 53.6 pmol/l, mean +/- S.D.) and somatostatin (54.5 +/- 27.5 pg/ml) did not differ significantly from those in 22 healthy controls (21.8 +/- 20.2 pmol/l and 64.8 +/- 24.7 pg/ml, respectively). The gastrin and somatostatin levels were not changed by 3 weeks of treatment either with propantheline and antacids or with cimetidine and antacids. The mean PP value before treatment was significantly (p less than 0.01) higher in duodenal ulcer patients (0.76 +/- 0.55 ng/ml) than in healthy subjects of similar age (0.36 +/- 0.26 ng/ml). The increased PP level was not lowered significantly by medical treatment even when this resulted in healing of the ulcer.