Arteriovenous shunt mechanism in gastric secretion

Abstract

The relationships between gastric secretion, aminopyrine clearance, and A-V difference were investigated in anesthetized dogs, both with and without vagectomy. From zero to a constant rate of stimulation, these three parameters in intact dogs changed unidirectionally and reached similar plateaus. In vagectomized dogs, gastric secretory rate and aminopyrine clearance did not change, but the A-V difference increased. From these data we have suggested that mucosal perfusion increases as a consequence of the closure of arteriovenous shunts, and that this mechanism is in large measure independent of gastric secretory rate. Epinephrine administration, isomolar with constant histamine infusion, provoked a rise in gastric secretion and a fall in A-V difference, suggesting that gastric secretion has limited dependence on mucosal blood flow. Finally, we have demonstrated that serotonin is without effect on gastric secretion or mucosal flow under the conditions of these experiments.