Pentagastrin induced motility pattern in the human upper gastrointestinal tract is reversed by proglumide.

The effects of pentagastrin and the putative gastrin antagonist proglumide on interdigestive motility of the upper small bowel were studied in a randomised double blind study in 10 healthy human volunteers. Intraluminal pressures were recorded manometrically in the duodenum and jejunum for five hours. Sixty minutes after starting a pentagastrin infusion (0.15 micrograms/kg/h) either placebo or proglumide was infused intravenously. Pentagastrin converted the normal interdigestive motility to irregular motor activity, while proglumide restored the periodic fasted pattern. We conclude that gastrin is a likely candidate involved in the conversion of the fasted to the fed motility pattern in the human upper gut.