Pancreatic vagal functional distribution in the secretion of insulin evoked by portal infusion of D-glucose.

The vagus glucose signal pathway relevant to hepatic portal control of insulin secretion was examined in bilaterally adrenalectomized rats. The increase in the insulin concentration after portal glucose injection was completely blocked by vagotomy of the hepatic branch which is bifurcated from the ventral vagus trunk at the subdiaphragmatic level. At the cervical level, the reduction in the insulin concentration showed no laterality following vagotomy on either side. The insulin response was mainly suppressed by prior section of the branch of the ventral vagus trunk at the celiac level. These results suggest that the hepatic glucose signal evoking insulin release has a specific pathway from the liver to the pancreas, and that there is functional laterality in this pathway in the visceral cavity.