Variations in the release of the NH2-terminal fragment of gastrin-17 in the course of duodenal ulcer disease.

Fasting and meal-stimulated NH2-terminal gastrin concentrations in serum were significantly higher in patients with active duodenal ulcer than in control subjects and in patients with inactive duodenal ulcer (p less than 0.05). In contrast, the COOH-terminal gastrin concentrations (the bioactive gastrins) did not differ among the groups. Parallel variation in the NH2- and COOH-terminal gastrin concentrations occurred both during meal stimulation and as response to adrenaline or secretin infusion. In a longitudinal study of duodenal ulcer patients, higher NH2- than COOH-terminal gastrin concentrations were associated with the active phase of the disease, whereas this seldom occurred during the inactive phase (p less than 0.001). These data suggest that abnormally large amounts of the NH2-terminal fragment of gastrin-17 are released to the circulation during the active phase of duodenal ulcer.