The effect of long-term postoperative pentagastrin infusion on the maximal acid responses to pentagastrin in patients subjected to antrectomy.

Six duodenal ulcer patients subjected to antrectomy were given a continuous i.v. infusion of pentagastrin in a dose just below ED50 during 1 week in the immediate postoperative course. The peak acid output following stimulation with pentagastrin (PAOG) was determined preoperatively and 1 and 5 weeks postoperatively. PAOG was determined preoperatively and 1 week after antrectomy in a control group of 25 duodenal ulcer patients, and preoperatively and 5 weeks after antrectomy in another control group of 19 duodenal ulcer patients. One week post-antrectomy the PAOG was significantly less reduced (23%) in the pentagastrin infusion group than in the control group (46%). The reductions of PAOG 5 weeks post-antrectomy were not significantly different in the pentagastrin infusion group and the control group. The results show that the dysfunction of the parietal cells, reflected in a decreased capacity to secrete acid following antrectomy, can be partly reversed by continuous administration of pentagastrin in the immediate postoperative course. The results are interpreted as suggesting that antral gastrin in man, besides its property to stimulate acid secretion, also has a trophic effect on the parietal cells in analogy with the postulated trophic effect of antral gastrin in rats.