The study looked at how different gut‑related hormones, including the growth‑hormone‑releasing peptide GRF‑1‑29, turn on a signaling enzyme in human pancreas tissue. It found that secretin is the strongest activator, while GRF‑1‑29 barely does anything, and that the pancreas has very specific secretin receptors that don’t fully explain the activity of other hormones.

Crude membranes (27,000 g pellets) from five normal human pancreases were prepared. In the presence of GTP, the peptides of the secretin family stimulated adenylate cyclase activity, their order of potency being: secretin greater than helodermin greater than peptide histidine isoleucinamide (PHI) greater than or equal to vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) greater than growth hormone releasing factor (GRF) (1-29)-NH2. In addition, helodermin and PHI were more efficient than secretin. Secretin (3-27) inhibited fully the secretin stimulation and partially only the helodermin and PHI stimulation of the enzyme. Secretin receptors were investigated by the ability of secretin and related peptides to inhibit tracer binding. [125I]Secretin binding was fully inhibited by secretin (Kd 0.8 nM), helodermin (Kd 200 nM), and PHI (Kd 250 nM). VIP and GRF(1-29)-NH2 induced partial (20%) inhibition at a high 10 microM concentration. The fragments secretin (2-27), (3-27), (4-27), and (7-27) showed the same low potency and efficacy based on their ability to stimulate adenylate cyclase and to occupy secretin receptors. The analogues [Val5]secretin and [Ala2]secretin had a higher potency than secretin. Based on this comparison of adenylate cyclase stimulation and [125I]secretin binding inhibition, it is tempting to conclude that the human pancreas: (a) possesses highly specific secretin receptors and (b) such receptors could not fully account for the whole pattern of adenylate cyclase activation by related peptides, so that the presence of an added type of "helodermin-PHI-preferring" receptors is suggested.