Release of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide from the cat small intestine exposed to cholera toxin.

During a four hour observation period vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) is released in increasing amounts from the feline small intestine exposed to cholera toxin. As VIP is known to be located almost exclusively in the intestinal nerves, the present findings strongly suggest that cholera toxin activates the enteric nervous system. The findings of this and other studies performed in this laboratory lead to the proposal that the choleraic secretion is, at least in part, secondary to the activation of intramural nervous reflexes in the gut.