No Effect of Cimetidine on Calcitonin Secretion from Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma

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Abstract
The effect of cimetidine on basal and pentagastrin-stimulated serum immunoreactive calcitonin (S-iCT) concentrations was studied in 6 patients with medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MCT). Basal S-iCT was elevated in all patients and showed a marked increase after i.v. injection of pentagastrin, 0.5 .mu.g/kg body wt. Cimetidine, 200 mg i.v., 30 min before administration of pentagastrin, had no effect on basal or pentagastrin-stimulated S-iCT. The mechanisms of basal and pentagastrin-stimulated calcitonin secretion from MCT do not seem to involve agonism with histamine H2-receptors.