Continuous Pancreatic Secretion.

Abstract

The following study was undertaken in order to determine the characteristics of the flow of pancreatic juice in the fasting dog and the influence of certain stimuli upon the rate of pancreatic secretion. Cl. Bernard 1 and Pavlov 2 believed that pancreatic juice was secreted intermittently in response to specific stimuli. Continuous secretion was regarded by them as an abnormal response of the pancreas to irritation and inflammation. Farrell and Ivy 3 found that pancreatic transplants secreted continuously in dogs. Recently Baxter 4 reported that spontaneous pancreatic secretion occurred in rabbits under prolonged urethane anesthesia, after decerebration or decapitation, and after extirpation of the entire gastro-intestinal tract.

Permanent pancreatic fistulas were established in 4 dogs under ether anesthesia and with strict asepsis according to the technic described by Elman and McCaughan. 5 This method permitted a study of pancreatic secretion under relatively normal conditions. The pancreatic juice remained uneontaminated, the total output being collected and measured at 24 hour intervals. The animals were allowed to recover completely from the effects of the operation before observations were made. For the first 2 days after the establishment of the fistula, secretion was either absent or markedly diminished. The experiments were conducted 4 to 8 days after the onset of secretion. Autopsy examinations were negative. The pancreas showed no gross or microscopic evidences of inflammation or obstruction. The gastro-intestinal tract was found to be empty at the conclusion of the fasting experiments.