Abstract

The effects of pentagastrin and the putative gastrin antagonist proglumide on interdigestive motility of the upper small bowel were studied in a randomised double blind study in 10 healthy human volunteers. Intraluminal pressures were recorded manometrically in the duodenum and jejunum for five hours. Sixty minutes after starting a pentagastrin infusion (0.15 micrograms/kg/h) either placebo or proglumide was infused intravenously. Pentagastrin converted the normal interdigestive motility to irregular motor activity, while proglumide restored the periodic fasted pattern. We conclude that gastrin is a likely candidate involved in the conversion of the fasted to the fed motility pattern in the human upper gut.