Effect of Gastrin on the in Vivo Incorporation of 14 C-Leucine into Protein of the Digestive Tract

Abstract

Summary

Rats were injected with ¹⁴C-leucine and either gastrin or saline and killed 2 hr later. Protein was precipitated from various tissues and the incorporation of the radioactive amino acid determined as an index of protein synthesis. Gastrin produced an 11–32% stimulation of protein synthesis in tissues from the duodenum and stomach but had no effect on liver, and decreased the incorporation in skeletal muscle. These effects are qualitatively identical to those reported previously from an in vitro system. We conclude that this evidence further supports the suggestion that gastrin may be a trophic hormone for parts of the digestive tract.

This study was supported by Veterans Administration Research Funds and by NSF Grant GB 7285X and by U. S. Army Grant DA-HC19-67-G-0004. The authors are grateful to Mr. Lawrence Yuen for expert technical assistance and to Dr. Morton I. Grossman for advice and support. This work was done while Dr. Leonard Johnson held an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship. Dr. Johnson's current address is the Department of Physiology, University of Oklahoma, Medical School, Oklahoma City. Dr. Rolf Hakanson's current address is the Department of Pharmacology, University of Lund, Sweden.