We studied the effects of atropine, both in the basal state and after stimulation by modified sham feeding (MSF), and the effect of MSF alone, on the plasma gastrin and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) responses in 8 healthy human subjects. Atropine 1 mg in the basal state had no effect on the plasma gastrin concentrations but led to significant decrease in plasma PP concentrations. Plasma gastrin response to MSF was negligible but increased by atropine. The plasma PP level was markedly increased by MSF, and was antagonized by atropine. This study shows that the release of plasma PP during basal state and after MSF is under the control of the vagalcholinergic mechanism, but plasma gastrin is controlled by a different mechanism.gastrin ; pancreatic polypeptide ; atropine ; sham feedingEffects of atropine on plasma gastrin in man in the basal level and in the vagally mediated stimulation have been reported by several authors but are still a subject of controversy. On the other hand, PP is a recently characterized 36 amino acid peptide, discovered by Kimmel et al. (1968) and by Lin and Chance (1974) independently.But the release mechanism involving cephalic phase of plasma PP has not been elucidated in detail as yet. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of vagal stimulation archieved by sham feeding and the effect of the cholinergic blockade, atropine, on the gastrin and PP response both in the basal state and after stimulation by sham feeding in man.
MATERIALS AND METHODSEight healthy volunteers (mean age 21 years, range 20-23 years) free from gastrointestinal disease participated as subjects in this study. On separate test days, three series of tests (A, B, C) were performed in random order after overnight fast on each subject.A. Effect of atropine during the basal state. After a 120-min control period, 1 mg of atropine sulfate (Tanabe, Osaka) was injected intramuscularly. Blood samples were taken