Release of gastrin from the skeletal muscles and from the antral mucosa in cats induced by sulfonuric drugs.

The present observations indicate that sulfonuric drugs release gastrin both from peripheral nerves in striated muscles and from endocrine-like cells in the gastrointestinal tract. Gastrin appears in perfusates of extirpated cat legs after administration of tolbutamide or glibenclamide (5-50 mg/kg or 5-500 microgram/kg perfused tissue respectively) to the perfusion medium. Furthermore gastrin is released into the portal vein of cats after i.v. administration of glibenclamide (5-50 microgram/kg). The finding that sulfonuric drugs not only release insulin from beta-cells in the pancreas, but also gastrin from gastrin producing cells in the stomach as well as from nerve fibers in the skeletal muscles, indicate that sulfonuric drugs have more wide spread effects than previously assumed. Possible consequences of the drug induced release of peptides from peripheral nerves as well as of the release of gastrin from the gastrointestinal tract are discussed.