A cyto-physiological study of the G-cell secretory cycle in the antrum mucosa of the hamster and of the rat.

The secretory cycle of the antral G cell in the golden hamster and in the Wistar rat has been investigated, using classical techniques of optical and electron microscopy associated with special methods (such as goniometry, densitometry, immunohistology, morphometry) and with radioimmunoassay for gastrin. This paper confirms the secretory cycle of the G cell after refeeding. It clarifies the nature of granule polymorphism and suggests a particular mechanism of emiocytosis with sequential granule fusion. Furthermore, our investigations show some dissociations between the G cell, the parietal cycle, and the seric immunoreactive gastrin in the late phase of the secretory cycle (2 to 6 h after refeeding).