Enhanced electrogenic secretion in vitro by small intestine from glucagon-treated rats: implications for the diarrhoea of starvation.

Glucagon treatment of fed rats (50 micrograms I.P. every 6 h for 3 days) induces significant increases in vitro of the basal short-circuit currents of the jejunum (52%) and proximal ileum (81%) and in their electrogenic secretory responses to stimulation by bethanechol, a muscarinic agonist. The results support a role for glucagon in the intestinal hypersecretion observed in starvation and nutrient deprivation.