Premium
Gastrin, Age and the Gastric Mucosa *
Author(s) -
Strickland R. G.,
Korman M. G.,
Hansky J.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0004-8291
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-5994.1973.tb03968.x
Subject(s) - achlorhydria , gastrin , gastric mucosa , medicine , gastroenterology , antrum , basal (medicine) , gastritis , atrophic gastritis , gastric acid , parietal cell , foveolar cell , endocrinology , stomach , secretion , insulin
Summary: Basal serum gastrin was measured in 120 patients grouped according to the presence or absence of three parameters, the parietal cell antibody (PCA), basal acid secretion, and atrophic gastritis (AG) as determined by gastric biopsy. The relation of serum gastrin to age was examined in each group. Twenty‐nine patients, seronegative for PCA with intact gastric mucosa and normal acid secretion had a normal serum gastrin ranging from 0 ‐ 100 pg/mI. Serum gastrin was elevated in 59 of 64 patients (92%) seropositive for PCA, with AG and achlorhydria, and in three of 27 patients (11%) seronegative for PCA, with AG and achlorhydria. An age related change in serum gastrin occurred in the group with AG seropositive for PCA, but not in the group with an intact gastric mucosa nor in the group with AG seronegative, or PCA. The previously reported rise in serum gastrin with age in random hospital populations is therefore due to inclusion of a subpopulation with AG predominately seropositive, for PCA rather than to a general age related change in the gastric mucosa. In patients with AG seropositive for PCA, progressive increase in gastrinsecreting cells in the antrum (characteristically spared from gastritis in this form of AG) may account for the age‐related rise in serum gastrin.