ABSTRACT
The secretion of gastric inhibitory polypeptide and of insulin was studied in patients with chronic relapsing pancreatitis and a healthy controls in the fasting state as well as after the oral intake of glucose. The basal levels of gastric inhibitory polypeptide were significantly lowered in patients with chronic relapsing pancreatitis compared with levels in normal persons, whereas the basal insulin levels were normal. The gastric inhibitory polypeptide response to orally administered glucose in patients with pancreatitis exhibited a paradoxic decline and was significantly lower than it was in normal persons. Patients with pancreatitis also had a diminished insulin response to glucose. The findings suggest that the feedback mechanisms between gastric inhibitory polypeptide and insulin, seen in normal persons, are not functioning in patients with chronic relapsing pancreatitis. The events which cause this are, at present, unknown.
