does someone knows what is cholecystokinin , where is it produced and how
can we become deficient.?
jean-claude

<chemical> A 33-amino acidpeptide secreted by the upperintestinal mucosa and also found in the central nervous system. It causes gallbladdercontraction, release of pancreaticexocrine (or digestive) enzymes, and affects other gastrointestinalfunctions. Cholecystokinin may be the mediator of satiety.

Chemical name: Cholecystokinin

From the online medical dictionary (great resource):

http://www.graylab.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?cholecystokinin

Maybe you caught this already, but it was in the same article:

"Since autoimmunity is believed to cause failure of the endocrine glands
in patients with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type I, it seems logical
to surmise that autoimmunity mediated the destruction of small-bowel enteroendocrine
cells in our patient." 
The investigators suggest that this mechanism
may account for the malabsorption seen in other patients with this syndrome.
 "A deficiency of enteroendocrine cells should be considered in any patient
in whom the usual tests fail to reveal an explanation for the malabsorption
syndrome," they advise. 
Wish they had better explanations for this kind of stuff, don't you?

Lois