Determinants of basal plasma gastrin levels in the general population.

BACKGROUND: There is considerable variation in basal plasma gastrin levels in healthy subjects. Although high plasma gastrin levels may be causally associated with duodenal ulcer and colorectal cancer, there has been little research to identify the factors that determine basal gastrin levels in the general population.

METHODS: Helicobacter pylori IgG antibodies and fasting basal gastrin concentrations were measured in 134 males and 137 females who had participated in a cardiovascular disease risk factor prevalence survey and for whom frozen plasma was available. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify the determinants of basal plasma gastrin concentration.

RESULTS: The determinants of basal plasma gastrin concentration were H. pylori infection (B=0.12+/-0.03; P=0.0001), age in deciles (B=0.02+/-0.01; P=0.03), hazardous drinking (B=0.10+/-0.05; P= 0.07) and gender (B=0.05+/-0.03; P=0.06), but not education, neighborhood socioeconomic index, smoking, body mass index, vigorous exercise or medication known to affect basal plasma gastrin concentration. Ten percent (+/-3) of seropositive subjects had a high basal plasma gastrin concentration > 90 pg/mL compared with only 2% (+/-1) of seronegative subjects.

CONCLUSIONS: Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the few modifiable determinants of basal plasma gastrin levels in the general population.