Role of the liver in secretin inactivation

¹ Surgical Research Laboratory, University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, California

In order to determine the effect of the liver on the action of secretin on the pancreas, secretin was infused alternately into the femoral and portal veins of adult mongrel dogs for 15-min periods, using a constant infusion pump. The major pancreatic duct was cannulated transduodenally and pancreatic juice was continuously collected in a graduated centrifuge tube. Injection of Evans blue dye through the main pancreatic duct at the conclusion of each experiment confirmed the ligation of all ducts, other than the major one, so that collections represented total flow of pancreatic juice. In each pair of infusions (portal and systemic) the volume of pancreatic juice obtained was always greater when secretin was given by the systemic route, and this increase in volume was highly significant statistically (P < .005). These observations indicate that the effect of secretin on the pancreas is partially inactivated by the liver.