Pancreatic secretory response to intravenous caerulein and intraduodenal tryptophan studies: before and after stepwise removal of the extrinsic nerves of the pancreas in dogs.

In two sets of 6 dogs with gastric and pancreatic fistulas, we studied the effect of atropine (14 nmol/kg.h i.v.) on the pancreatic secretory response to intravenous caerulein and to intraduodenal perfusion with tryptophan (both given with a secretin background) before and after stepwise removal of the extrinsic nerves of the pancreas, i.e., celiac and superior mesenteric ganglionectomy alone or truncal vagotomy alone and truncal vagotomy plus celiac and superior mesenteric ganglionectomy. Atropine significantly (p less than 0.05) depressed the protein output in the basal state and in response to secretin at each stage of innervation. The incremental protein response to caerulein was not altered by the various denervation operations nor by atropine. Truncal vagotomy alone significantly decreased the incremental protein response to low (0.12, 0.37, and 1.1 mmol/h) but not high loads of tryptophan. Ganglionectomy in combination with vagotomy did not further depress the incremental protein response to low loads of tryptophan. Atropine significantly reduced the incremental protein response to low loads of tryptophan only in intact innervated animals. Ganglionectomy alone did not alter the incremental protein response to any load of tryptophan. Ganglionectomy, truncal vagotomy, and atropine did not alter basal or tryptophan-stimulated levels of plasma cholecystokininlike immunoreactivity. We conclude that (a) neither the extrinsic nor the intrinsic cholinergic pancreatic nerves modulate the protein response to caerulein; (b) the sympathetic pancreatic nerves do not mediate the response to tryptophan; (c) the protein response to intraduodenal tryptophan is at least in part mediated by long, cholinergic, enteropancreatic reflexes with both afferent and efferent fibers running within the vagus nerves; and (d) release of cholecystokinin by intestinal tryptophan is not under cholinergic or splanchnic control.