Effect of Alloxan upon External Secretion of the Pancreas

Abstract

The report of Goldner and Gomori 1 that in dogs made “diabetic” by alloxan injection the intralobular duct cells of the pancreas showed vacuolization suggested to us the possibility that this might serve as a means of investigating whether these duct cells perform a secretory function.

Methods and Results. A standard preparation of secretin concentrate designated S₁ 2 was used in these experiments. It is known to contain both secretin and pancreozymin. The particular lot of material used for these experiments was tested on 2 normal dogs and the threshold dose 3 was found to be 0.3 and 0.5 mg respectively, indicating that the material had standard potency. In 4 dogs rendered “diabetic” for 18 to 30 days by the intravenous injection of 75 mg of alloxan per kg of body weight, the threshold dose of this same lot of secretin concentrate was found to be 2, 4, 5 and 10 mg. The “diabetic state” was attested by the strongly positive sugar reaction of the urine accompanied by moderate decline in body weight.

Two dogs which were similarly treated with alloxan but failed to become “diabetic” showed a threshold of 0.4 and 0.8 mg secretin concentrate, respectively. In the 2 normal dogs mentioned above, which were used to establish the potency of the secretin preparation, the injection of alloxan in a dose of 75 mg per kg of body weight after the threshold response had been determined did not significantly alter their response to a subsequently administered threshold dose of secretin concentrate within 3 hours.

Amylase determinations by the method of Schmidt 4 were performed on all samples of pancreatic juice but revealed no remarkable differences between the juice obtained from alloxan-treated animals and that of normal dogs (Table I). In one animal with alloxan-induced diabetes in which the pancreas was examined histologically, the vacuolization of the intralobular ducts described by Goldner and Gomori 1 was found; the acinar cells were normal.