Comparison of Histamine and Pentagastrin in Stimulation of Pepsin Secretion in Man

Graded doses of histamine dihydrochloride (0.4 to 26.2 μg/kg-h) and of pentagastrin (0.055 to 7.0 μg/kg-h) were infused intravenously on separate days in each of 3 healthy subjects. The maximal acid response was similar with histamine and pentagastrin, whereas both the observed and the calculated maximal pepsin response were greater with histamine, owing to lower concentrations of pepsin in the pentagastrin-stimulated gastric secretions. The pepsin/acid ratio, which was lower with pentagastrin than with histamine, decreased with increasing doses of the stimulants. It would therefore appear that pentagastrin is inferior to histamine as a stimulant of pepsin secretion in man.