THE GASTRIC ENDOCRINE AND EXOCRINE RESPONSE TO HISTAMINE IN DOGS AND EFFECT OF PASSAGE OF BLOOD THROUGH THE GASTRIC AND HEPATIC VESSELS ON ITS PEPSINOGEN CONTENT

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Abstract
Subcutaneous histamine in dogs in a dose of 5 mg/kg of body weight provoked a significant increase in gastric pepsin secretion over a 4-hour period. Increased pepsin production was accompanied by increased secretion of free HC1, increased volume of gastric juice, and elevation of plasma pepsinogen in the same experimental period. Plasma pepsinogen levels, before and after histamine, were determined in a gastric artery, a gastric vein, the portal vein, a hepatic vein, and a cephalic vein. Enzyme concentration was significantly higher in the gastric vein than in the gastric artery and this difference was accentuated following histamine administration. These findings were attributed to endocrine secretion of pepsinogen by the zymogenic cells of the gastric mucosa. There was no evidence that pepsinogen concentration is altered as the blood traverses the liver.