Fasting and food-stimulated plasma gastrin levels in chronic Chagas' disease.

Chagas' disease is known to be associated with extensive lesions of the intramural neurons of the digestive tract. In order to evaluate the contribution of the intramural plexuses to the control of plasma gastrin levels in man, we performed the following measurements: (a) fasting plasma gastrin in 18 chagasic patients and 16 control subjects; (b) integrated gastrin response to food in 9 chagasic patients and 10 controls, (c) basal acid secretion and gastric acid responses to graded doses of pentagastrin in 14 chagasic and 13 controls. Fasting plasma gastrin levels and integrated gastrin response were significantly higher in chagasics than in controls. Basal and maximal acid secretion and responsiveness of acid-secreting gastric cells were lower in chagasics. These results indicate that the intramural plexuses play a role in the control of gastrin release in man.