Exocrine pancreatic hypersecretion in Brazilian alcoholics.

Thirty percent of alcoholic patients without clinical evidence of pancreatic or hepatic disease showed hypersecretion of pancreatic bicarbonate in all three test periods after stimulation with secretin and secretin-cholecystokinin, and an increased amount of protein in the duodenal aspirate of the first test period, probably due to ductal wash-out. This hypersecretion must be taken into account when the secretion or secretin-cholecystokinin tests of alcoholics are interpreted, and, indeed, may be useful in identifying possible early pancreatic dysfunction that precedes insufficiency and clinical symptoms.