The Gastrin test contains 1 test with 1 biomarker.
Description: The gastrin test is used to measure gastrin, a hormone that controls stomach acid. The test measures gastrin levels in your blood’s serum.
Also Known As: Gastrinomas Test
Collection Method: Blood Draw
Specimen Type: Serum
Test Preparation: Overnight fasting (12 hours) required
When is a Gastrin test ordered?
When a patient experiences diarrhea, abdominal pain, and/or recurring peptic ulcers that do not improve after treatment and that the doctor feels are brought on by excessive gastrin production, a gastrin test may be recommended. When a patient's gastrin level is moderately increased and a doctor feels they may have a gastrinoma, they may be given a gastrin stimulation test.
A periodic gastrin test may be requested as a screening test to check for recurrence after a gastrin-producing tumor has been excised.
What does a Gastrin test check for?
The "G-cells" in the antrum, a region of the stomach, create the hormone called "gastrin." During the digestion process, it controls the amount of acid produced in the stomach. To assess a person with recurrent peptic ulcers and/or other severe gastrointestinal symptoms, this test analyzes the level of gastrin in the blood.
The antrum of the stomach swells as food is consumed, and the meal itself causes gastrin to be released. The production of stomach acid is then stimulated by the hormone gastrin. Acidity aids in food digestion, and when it increases, it eventually inhibits the release of gastrin. Low levels of gastrin are often produced by this feedback system, especially while a person is fasting. An excess of gastrin and stomach acid can be brought on by uncommon disorders such G-cell hyperplasia and gastrinomas, including Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. Aggressive peptic ulcers that are challenging to treat may result from this.
Gastrinomas are tumors that make gastrin. One or more gastrinomas can result in ZE syndrome, which is characterized by excessive gastrin levels, significantly increased stomach acid production, and peptic ulcers. Despite the fact that the pancreas' endocrine cells don't typically produce gastrin, gastrinomas frequently develop there. More than half of them are cancerous, leading to cancer that can spread to different organs including the liver. Large amounts of gastrin can be produced by even the smallest tumors.
Lab tests often ordered with a Gastrin test:
- Helicobacter Pylori (H. Pylori)
- Gastric Acid
Conditions where a Gastrin test is recommended:
- Endocrine Syndromes
- Gastrinomas
How does my health care provider use a Gastrin test?
The main purpose of the gastrin test is to identify cases of excessive gastrin and stomach acid production. It is used to assist in the diagnosis of Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, hyperplasia of G-cells, and gastrinomas, which are gastrin-producing tumors. The stomach's G-cells are specialized cells that create gastrin, which boosts the production of gastric acid.
After a gastrinoma has been surgically removed, a gastrin test may be used to check for recurrence.
Therefore, if the initial gastrin test result is moderately but not significantly high and the healthcare professional feels that a person's symptoms are brought on by a gastrinoma, a gastrin stimulation test may be conducted to provide additional information. This process entails taking a baseline sample of gastrin, administering a drug to the patient to increase gastrin synthesis, and then taking more blood samples at certain intervals for gastrin testing. After secretin administration, the other sources of high gastrin won't exhibit a rise.
To aid in the diagnosis of ZE syndrome, a measurement of the pH level of gastric acid may occasionally be requested before, during, or after a gastrin test.
What do my Gastrin test results mean?
It is uncommon to be concerned about low or normal blood levels of gastrin.
A number of diseases and illnesses, including ZE syndrome, pernicious anemia, G-cell hyperplasia, chronic atrophic gastritis, chronic kidney failure, and pyloric blockage, can cause somewhat elevated levels.
A person is likely to have ZE syndrome and one or more gastrinomas if their gastrin levels are significantly elevated in symptomatic persons and increase significantly after a gastrin stimulation test. In order to find the gastrinomas, imaging tests may be prescribed as a follow-up to elevated gastrin concentrations. Both the size and the number of tumors have no effect on how much gastrin is produced. Large volumes of gastrin can be produced by even small tumors.
Following surgical resection of a gastrinoma, low-grade gastrin levels that later rise could indicate a return of the tumor. Concentrations that remain elevated following treatment may be a sign that it wasn't entirely successful.
We advise having your results reviewed by a licensed medical healthcare professional for proper interpretation of your results.
