CHOLECYSTOKININ DOES NOT STIMULATE PROSOMATOSTATIN-DERIVED PEPTIDES IN MAN

In man, plasma cholecystokinin (CCK) and somatostatin-28 (S-28) levels increase after ingestion of a mixed meal. Both peptides originate from the gastrointestinal tract. In supra- and periphysiological doses, CCK stimulates the release of somatostatin-14 from in vitro pancreatic islets and gastric cells and increases circulating somatostatin-like immunoreactiv-ity in dogs, leading to the conjecture that CCK regulates soma-tostatin-like immunoreactivity secretion. Nonetheless, whether CCK is responsible in part for the meal-induced rise in S-28 in man has not been established. Therefore, the present study was designed to determine if CCK, at both physiological and supra-physiological concentrations, increases the circulating levels of prosomatostatin (proS)-derived peptides in humans. On 3 separate days, five healthy men ate a mixed liquid meal or received iv infusions of CCK at rates of 18 or 38 pmol/kg·h. Plasma levels of pro-S-derived peptides, including pro-S, S-14, S-13, S-28, and CCK, were measured. Basal CCK levels averaged 0.9 ± 0.1 pmol/L and increased after the meal to a peak level of 5.4 ± 1.5 pmol/L and averaged 3.1 ± 1.2 pmol/L over 90 min. The mean basal levels ofpro-S, S-14, and S-13, measured collectively, was 6.1 ± 0.4 pmol/L eq S14 and was unaltered by food intake. The S-28 level was 6.7 ± 0.6 pmol/L and rose to a zenith of 13.1 ± 3.3 pmol/L by 90 min. Infusion of CCK at 18 and 38 pmol/kg·h produced steady state plasma CCK levels of 4.1 ± 1.1 and 9.9 ± 1.5 pmol/L, respectively. Basal levels of pro-S-derived peptides were unaltered during the infusion of either the low or high dose of CCK. We conclude that CCK by itself is not a physiological signal to the release of pro-S-derived peptides in man. © 1990 by The Endocrine Society.