title: Hormone-mediated watery diarrhea in a family with multiple endocrine neoplasms.
abstract: A father and son each presented with severe watery diarrhea. The son was found to have a pancreatic islet-cell tumor associated with the pancreatic cholera syndrome, as well as a parathyroid adenoma. The father was found to have multiple islet-cell adenomas and the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. Pancreatic tumor tissue from each patient contained detectable gastrin and vasoactive intestinal peptide; however, a much higher gastrin concentration was found in the tumor tissue from the father and a much higher vasoactive intestinal peptide content in the tumor tissue from the son. Thus, watery diarrhea may be mediated by different hormones in families having multiple endocrine neoplasia; the precise cause of the diarrheal syndrome should be defined to ensure the proper therapy.
mesh_terms: D000236:Adenoma / Q000150:complications; D007516:Adenoma, Islet Cell / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics; D000328:Adult; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D004700:Endocrine System Diseases / Q000235:genetics*; D005755:Gastrins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000235:genetics*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics; D010282:Parathyroid Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide / Q000378:metabolism; D015043:Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D005755:Gastrins; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide