Exogenous gastrin in rhesus monkeys. The effect of 50% distal small-bowel resection on its rate of disappearance

C. R. Mackie, M. H. Lewis, V. L. Go and A. R. Moossa

The rate of disappearance from the circulation of exogenous heptadecapeptide gastrin was studied before and after 50% distal small-bowel resection in four rhesus monkeys. For each study, venous blood samples were drawn during, and at frequent intervals after, a one-hour peripheral venous infusion of synthetic human gastrin 1 given at a constant rate within the range of 0.4 to 2.4 microgram/hr/kg of body weight. The rate of disappearance of infused gastrin was not affected by small-bowel resection (mean half-time before operation, 2.50 minutes; mean half-time after operation, 2.47 minutes). These data indicate that in the rhesus monkey, the rate of catabolism of exogenous gastrin is not decreased after distal small-bowel resection, and indicate that other mechanisms are responsible for the hypergastrinemia and gastric acid hypersecretion observed in this animal model.