Failure of glucagon to influence ion transport across human jejunal and ileal mucosa in vitro.

Glucagon (90 to 880 pg.ml-1) failed to influence electrical activity or fluxes of sodium and chloride across human jejunal and ileal mucosa in vitro. These results suggest that the intestinal secretion and diarrhoea produced in vivo in man during intravenous infusion of glucagon may be produced by changes in motility and blood flow and not directly by activating an ion secretory mechanism as is the case in cholera.