Effects of butyric acid and analogues on amylase release from pancreatic segments of sheep and goats.

The specificity of the structural elements of a short-chain fatty acid for stimulating amylase release was investigated in superfused pancreatic segments of sheep and goats in vitro using butyric acid and analogues. Monocarboxylic (cyclohexanecarboxylic and benzoic) acids were as effective as butyric acid, whilst 4-phenyl-n-butyric and dicarboxylic (succinic and phthalic) acids were weak stimulants. The amylase release evoked by butyric acid was markedly reduced in the presence of these compounds. Replacement of hydrogens by a hydroxyl group or amino group or reduction of the carboxyl group to alcohol diminished, while replacement of hydrogen by chloride at the 3 carbon position did not change, the ability to stimulate amylase release. The dose-response curve for butyric acid was shifted to the right in parallel in the solution containing succinic acid at 8 x 10(-4) mol/l. The maximal increment (but not ED50) of amylase release evoked by ACh was severely reduced in the solution simultaneously containing butyric acid at 10(-3) mol/l. These results suggest that short-chain fatty acids are required to possess both carboxyl (hydrophilic) group and hydrophobic tails in order to have the ability to stimulate amylase release, and that amylase release evoked by butyrate is caused through specific recognizing sites for short-chain fatty acids which might be different from ACh receptors, in the pancreatic segments of sheep and goats.