Inhibition of neurally mediated gastrin secretion by bombesin antiserum

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Abstract
In vitro studies on the vascularly perfused rat stomach showed that gastrin secretion was regulated by intramural cholinergic and noncholinergic neurons. Bombesin (gastrin-releasing peptide), a known gastrin stimulant present in antral mucosal nerve fibers, was the most likely candidate for noncholinergic transmitter. Bombesin antiserum (final dilution, 1:150) but not control serum added to the vascular perfusate inhibited the gastrin response to 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium by 59 .+-. 17% (P < 0.01) and to electrical field stimulation by 60 .+-. 16% (P < 0.01), and its effect was additive to that of 10-7 M atropine (75-94%), thus accounting for the greater part of neurally induced gastrin secretion. The effects of atropine and bombesin antiserum on somatostatin secretion were consistent also with blockade of cholinergic and noncholinergic neurons, respectively. Bombesin and acetylcholine are the main intramural neural regulators of gastrin and somatostatin secretion. Acetylcholine acts predominantly to decrease the paracrine secretion of somatostatin, thereby eliminating the continuous restraint of somatostatin on gastrin secretion and enabling bombesin to exert its potent stimulatory effect on gastrin secretion.