Plasma gastrin levels in alcoholic and idiopathic chronic pancreatitis patients free from Helicobacter pylori infection

Previous studies on gastrin levels in chronic pancreatitis (CP) patients have given conflicting results. These studies did not take into consideration the influence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection on gastrin release. Also, there is no previous study that compared alcoholic CP patients to patients with idiopathic pancreatitis. Our aim was to measure basal and postprandial plasma gastrin levels in all CP patients, including subgroups of alcoholic, idiopathic, severe and mild CP patients, and compare them with healthy subjects after the eradication of H. pylori infection. Basal and postprandial gastrin levels were measured in 30 patients with CP (10 patients with alcoholic and 20 patients with idiopathic CP) and in 25 healthy subjects. A significant increase in basal gastrin levels was found only in a subgroup of alcoholic CP (P