Influence of experimental acute renal failure on somatostatin levels and binding in rabbit fundic and duodenal mucosa.

Rabbits with bilateral ureteral ligation of four-days duration showed a significant decrease of somatostatin content in gastric fundic mucosa (but not in proximal duodenal mucosa) as well as in the binding capacity of both high- and low-affinity binding sites without changes in the affinity values in cytosol of fundic and proximal duodenal mucosa, whereas the fasting plasma somatostatin levels increased as compared to control conditions. The number of somatostatin binding sites was inversely related to plasma levels of the peptide and support the hypothesis of somatostatin regulating its own binding sites. The current finding provides evidence that diminished somatostatin binding may be a contributory factor in the somatostatin gastroduodenal resistance of uremia.