Secretin Half-Life in Cirrhotics with High Secretory Volumes to a Secretin Test

Summary

The hypothesis of prolonged secretin half-life was examined in four cirrhotic patients who had pancreatic and biliary hypersecretory responses to exogenous secretin. The mean serum half-life of secretin from these patients was 2.74 ± 0.31 (SEM) min and did not differ significantly from a group of five healthy volunteers whose secretin half-life was 2.72 ± 0.41 (SEM) min (P > 0.1). In addition, the secretin half-lives correlated inversely with body weight in the cirrhotic patients. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that mechanisms other than altered secretin disappearance half-life are responsible for the hypersecretion seen in response to a secretin test in cirrhotic patients.

This study was supported by NIH Research Grant AM 19425.