Immunochemical studies on gastrins in the urine.

The concentration and molecular form of gastrin in urine were determined radioimmunochemically. Urine from hypergastrinaemic patients (Zollinger-Ellison syndrome and pernicious anaemia) contained gastrins corresponding to the serum components I and II. The excretion of gastrin increased with increasing gastrin concentrations in serum. Urine from six subjects with normal concentrations of gastrin in serum contained "apparent" gastrin immunoreactivity which could not be removed by specific immunoabsorption. No gastrin was detectable by gel filtration of desalted and concentrated urine from normal subjects. The apparent immunoreactivity was due partly to interference by sodium chloride. The results indicate that hypergastrinaemic patients, in contrast to normal subjects, excrete gastrins in the urine.