Somatostatin and serum gastrin behaviour.

The effect of somatostatin (250 mcg. by i.v. bolus injection) on serum gastrin behaviour was studied in 12 dyspeptic subjects. In 6 of them, seven gastrin levels were determined in the basal conditions and after somatostatin injection. In the remaining 6 patients, the gastrinemic profile was evaluated after histamine injection (0.5 mg/i.m.) and after the injection of histamine plus somatostatin (24 h later). Gastric acid secretion was also determined in all the cases. The results obtained demonstrate that somatostatin reduces the gastrin release: this reduction appears 30 minutes after its administration and persists until the 60th minute: after the 75th minute the serum gastrin returns to the basal level. The contemporaneous injection of somatostatin and of histamine does not modify the gastrinemic profile as compared to what was observed in the basal condition or after histamine alone.