Acute effects of N-terminal progastrin fragments on gastric acid secretion in man.

We previously identified an N-terminal fragment of progastrin in human antrum and plasma, where it circulates in high concentrations. In this study, we examined the effects of N-terminal progastrin fragments on gastric acid secretion by infusion in healthy individuals. Increasing doses of progastrin fragment 1-35 were infused intravenously during constant gastric acid stimulation by gastrin-17. In addition, the effects of progastrin fragment 1-35, fragment 6-35, and fragment 1-19 on gastrin-17 stimulated acid secretion were tested. The gastrin-17 stimulated acid secretion decreased 30% after administration of a high dose of progastrin fragment 1-35 ( P  < 0.05). In extension, a 1-h infusion of fragment 1-35 also decreased gastric acid output. In contrast, fragment 6-35 did not affect acid secretion, and a single infusion of gastrin-17 alone did not reveal fading of gastric acid output during the time course of the experiments. The results show that N-terminal fragments of progastrin may acutely affect gastrin-stimulated gastric acid secretion in vivo. Structure-function analysis suggests that the N-terminal pentapeptide of progastrin is required for the effect.