Effect of acute hemorrhage on gastrin secretion rate and blood levels of gastrin and insulin in normal dogs and in dogs after vagotomy.

Ten dogs were used to study antral gastrin secretion in hemorrhagic shock. Dogs that had a vagotomy were compared with normal dogs. Acute hemorrhage, imposed upon operative stress, produced increased gastrin secretion in normal dogs but not in dogs after vagotomy. During the acute hemorrhage, the level of circulating gastrin in normal dogs increased to about 50 to more than 100 per cent of the control values. The concentration of gastrin in the dogs having a vagotomy was essentially unchanged in the face of acute hemorrhage. Results of this study suggest that the increased concentration of circulating gastrin in normal dogs subjected to severe stress may play a role in the development of a stress ulcer.