Pancreatic Response to Histamine in Dogs With Gastrostomies

¹ From the Gastroenterology Research Laboratory, The Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City

The stimulatory action of histamine on pancreatic secretion has been studied in five dogs with a chronic pancreatic fistula and a gastrostomy for continuous gastric drainage. Histamine appears to be a potent pancreatic secretagogue; in doses of 0.1 mg base/kg body weight it gave a response usually one-third to two-thirds of the volume secreted after secretin, and occasionally even more than this fraction. In general, the bicarbonate concentrations varied in accord with the volumes, so that the evidence based on total output of bicarbonate is likewise in agreement with that based on volume. The effect of atropine on the histamine response has been studied in four of these dogs. This agent inhibits the histamine response invariably, and sometimes the inhibition appears to be complete.