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Review: the enterochromaffin‐like cell, intragastric acidity and the trophic effect of plasma gastrin
Author(s) -
POLAK J. M.,
BLOOM S. R.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
alimentary pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.308
H-Index - 177
eISSN - 1365-2036
pISSN - 0269-2813
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2036.1988.tb00700.x
Subject(s) - gastrin , enterochromaffin like cell , achlorhydria , enterochromaffin cell , enteroendocrine cell , pernicious anaemia , gastric acid , medicine , regulation of gastric function , endocrinology , secretion , g cell , endocrine system , population , histamine , stomach , atrophic gastritis , hormone , serotonin , gastritis , receptor , environmental health
SUMMARY Although enterochromaffin‐like (ECL) cells form the major endocrine cell population of the non‐antral stomach, they have been largely overlooked in the study of gastric disease. In the human, their product and functions are unknown, but they are associated with histamine secretion in rodents. The cells are controlled by neural and hormonal factors, the most significant of the latter being gastrin. Interest in ECL cells has been stimulated by the observation that hyperplasia of these cells, sometimes leading to formation of gastric carcinoid tumours, occurs in conditions of persistent hypergastrinaemia — for example, in response to the achlorhydria of individuals with pernicious anaemia. The advent of new highly potent inhibitors of gastric acid secretion is allowing more information to be obtained on the physiology and functions of the ECL cell. However, there is clearly a great deal more to be discovered about this enigmatic endocrine cell type.