Trophic effects of gastrin.

Gastrin is an important trophic hormone for the acid-producing part of the stomach. There is no solid evidence that gastrin is physiologically important as a trophic agent outside the stomach. The trophic effects in the stomach are manifested as an increased weight and thickness of the oxyntic mucosa and can be induced by both exogenous and endogenous gastrin--that is, in situations of long-lasting hypergastrinemia (treatment with effective antisecretagogues, partial fundectomy, or antrum exclusion). Removal of endogenous gastrin by antrectomy induces the opposite effects--that is, diminished weight and thickness of the oxyntic mucosa. Unlike all other peptide hormone-producing endocrine cells in the oxyntic mucosa, the so-called enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells respond readily to gastrin. An acute gastrin challenge results in release of stored products from the ECL cells (such as histamine) and activation of cytoplasmic enzymes (such as histidine decarboxylase). Sustained elevation of circulating gastrin over days results in hypertrophy of the ECL cells and over weeks results in marked hyperplasia (at most a fivefold increase in the rat). The results in other species are similar but often somewhat less marked than in the rat.