Objective: To determine the prevalence of hypergastrinemia in cats with naturally developing chronic renal failure (CRF) and the correlation between gastrin concentration in plasma and severity of CRF.
Design: Cohort study.
Animals: 30 cats with naturally developing CRF and 12 clinically normal control cats.
Procedure: Gastrin concentrations in plasma were determined by double-antibody radioimmunoassay of blood samples obtained from cats after food was withheld 8 hours. Concentrations were compared, using a nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA.
Results: 18 cats with CRF had high gastrin concentrations (median, 45 pg/ml; range, < 18 to > 1,333 pg/ml), compared with those for control cats (< 18 pg/ml). Prevalence of hypergastrinemia increased with severity of renal insufficiency. Three of 9 cats with mild CRF, 6 of 11 cats with moderate CRF, and 9 of 10 cats with severe CRF had high gastrin concentrations. Gastrin concentrations were significantly different between control cats and cats with CRF, regardless of disease severity.
Clinical implications: The potential role of high concentrations of gastrin on gastric hyperacidity, uremic gastritis, bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract, and associated clinical signs of hypergastrinemia (e.g., anorexia and vomiting) may justify use of histamine2-receptor antagonists or proton pump inhibitors to suppress gastric acid secretion in cats with CRF that have these clinical signs.