Diphasic blood ammonia curves after feeding protein to normal dogs and men.

Abstract

We 1,2 have confirmed the findings of others 3-6 that there is an elevation in acid secretion from Heidenhain pouches of dogs, in which the portal venous blood is diverted around the liver. The elevated secretion is intimately related to the ingestion of food. 2-5 We thought the humoral secretagogue involved might be a product of protein breakdown in the lumen of the intestine. Since ammonia is one such product which can conveniently be measured, we set out to study serial venous blood ammonia levels after feeding dogs with and without shunts around the liver, seeking to determine whether there is a correlation between these levels and the rate of gastric acid secretion. The ammonia curves obtained after feeding normal dogs and men were surprising and are the subject of this report. Methods Normal mongrel intact, unanesthetized dogs weighing between 12.7 and 25.0 kg., were fasted but were allowed to