Variations in the sulfation of circulating gastrins in gastrointestinal diseases

The basal concentrations of sulfated and non-sulfated gastrins in serum were measured radioimmunochemically in healthy subjects and in normo- and hyper-gastrinemic diseases. The degree of sulfation in patients with duodenal and gastric ulcer, chronic pancreatitis, gallstone disease, and chronic renal failure were similar to that of healthy controls, in whom 37.7 +/- 1.9% (mean +/- SEM) of serum gastrins were sulfated. In eight patients with the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome 57 +/- 5.4% of the gastrins were sulfated (p less than 0.005, compared with controls). In patients with pernicious anemia (no. = 20) only 24.4 +/- 2.0% of the gastrins were sulfated (p less than 0.005, compared with controls). An inverse correlation (r = -0.63, p less than 0.01) was found between the degree of sulfation and the total gastrin concentration in pernicious anemia but not in gastrinoma patients. The results indicate that diseases with increased synthesis of gastrin are accompanied by an abnormal degree of sulfation.