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Effects of Calcium on Serum Gastrin Levels in the Zollinger–Ellison Syndrome

List of authors.
  • Walter L. Trudeau, B.M., B.Ch.,
  • and James E. McGuigan, M.D.

Abstract

Serum gastrin levels were repeatedly measured in a patient with a total gastrectomy and hypergastrinemia associated with the Zollinger—Ellison syndrome. Fasting serum concentrations determined on consecutive days, and also at four-hour intervals during a 24-hour period, revealed persistent hypergastrinemia that varied within a relatively narrow range. Serum gastrin levels were found to relate directly to plasma calcium concentrations, falling by a factor of 20 with the development of hypocalcemia after parathyroidectomy for hypercalcemic hyperparathyroidism. Marked increases in serum gastrin concentration were induced by calcium infusion (12 and 20 mg per kilogram of body weight) but not by infusion of parathormone. The previously demonstrated effects of calcium in the control and stimulation of gastric acid secretion may be mediated by the polypeptide hormone gastrin.

Funding and Disclosures

Supported in part by research grants (AM 10837 and FR 36) from the National Institutes of Health, by a grant (T-394) from the American Cancer Society, by a grant-in-aid (66–679) from the American Heart Association and by a research career-development award (19–499) from the National Institutes of Health (Dr. McGuigan).

Author Affiliations

* From the Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, and the Medical Service of the John Cochran Veterans Administration Hospital, St. Louis, Mo. (address reprint requests to Dr. McGuigan at the Division of Gastroenterology, J. Hillis Miller Health Center, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla. 32601).

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