Are gastrin-cells present in mammalian pancreatic islets?

The possible existence of gastrin-cells in the pancreas was investigated by a comparative immunohistological and immunochemical study of antral mucosa and pancreas of man, dog, rabbit, rat and pig. Gastrin-cells were identified in the antral mucosa of all these species with the indirect immunofluorescence and the immunoperoxidase methods. With the same methods, no gastrin-cells were detected in the pancreas in any of the species studied. With radioimmunoassay, serial dilutions of antral or duodenal extracts yielded curves which were identical to those obtained with synthetic human gastrin, whereas pancreatic or islet extracts did not produce any significant displacement of the 125-I-gastrin. Therefore, the presence of gastrin-producing cells in normal pancreas remains questionable. © 1974 Springer-Verlag.Comparative StudyJournal ArticleSCOPUS: ar.j