Active immunization against somatostatin alters regulation of gastrin in response to gastric acid secretagogues.

We have examined the coupling between somatostatin, gastrin, and gastric acidity, using sheep chronically immunized against somatostatin. All immunized sheep had high-titer (3.2 x 10(5) +/- 1.1 x 10(4) M), high-affinity (1.5 x 10(11) +/- 1.2 x 10(10) l/mol) antibodies. However, basal gastrin and gastric acidity were similar to those in control animals, indicating that an inhibitory somatostatin tone was not required for the maintenance of normal basal gastrin and gastric acidity. Omeprazole (a proton pump inhibitor) increased gastric pH to a similar extent in both the control and immunized groups but resulted in a smaller increase in plasma gastrin in the immunized sheep, thus calling into question the assumption that hypergastrinemia associated with hypochlorhydria is the result of somatostatin withdrawal. Pentagastrin- or histamine-stimulated somatostatin secretion reversed or attenuated the omeprazole-induced hypergastrinemia in control but not immunized sheep, demonstrating a functional role for somatostatin and the biological efficacy of the somatostatin immunization. In a separate series of omeprazole-treated sheep, restoration of an acidic gastric pH with intragastric HCl reversed the hypergastrinemia in both control and immunized animals. We conclude that somatostatin is not essential for the acid-mediated regulation of gastrin. The use of a chronically immunized model as opposed to the acute administration of somatostatin antibodies has important advantages in determining the steady-state regulatory role of somatostatin.