Download Session 11 nr. 1 - Nordic Congress in Clinical Biochemistry 2016

35TH NORDIC CONGRESS IN CLINICAL BIOCHEMISTRY
JUNE 14TH – 17TH 2016
Session 11
Lecture 1
Measurement of Cholecystokinin in Plasma
Jens F. Rehfeld, Dept. of Clin. Biochemistry, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen
The gut hormone, cholecystokinin (CCK), was discovered in 1928 as a gallbladder contractor. In 1968 the
structure was identified as a 33 amino acid peptide with a C-terminal “active site” sequence that revealed
close homology with that of gastrin. Later the CCK gene has been shown to be expressed at high levels also
in cerebral neurons and cardiac myocytes. CCK circulates in femtomolar to low picomolar concentrations.
Due to the resemblance with gastrin that circulates in 20-fold higher concentrations, it has been unusually
difficult to develop an assay specific for CCK in plasma. In 1998 we succeeded, however, and have now
found diagnostic and prognostic use of measuring CCK peptides in patients with the newly described
CCKoma syndrome, Ewing’s sarcoma and heart failure patients.