Effects of oleic acid and endogenous bile on duodenal secretion of somatostatin in man.

We studied the effects of intraduodenal oleic acid on the release of somatostatin to plasma and the correlation between endogenous bile output and plasma somatostatin. In five normal persons infusion of 0, 5, 10, 20, and 40 mM oleic acid dose-dependently increased the levels of somatostatin during as well as after gallbladder emptying. The difference between somatostatin concentration during and after gallbladder emptying was not significant. The amylase secretion also was significantly correlated to the dose of fat, whereas the output of bile salts was the same for all fat doses used. Our observations indicate that intraduodenal oleic acid--and not bile salts--releases somatostatin from the gut.