Vagal release of serotonin into gut lumen and portal circulation via separate control mechanisms.

The mechanisms controlling vagally induced release of serotonin-like immunoreactivity (5-HTLI) into portal circulation and jejunal lumen were studied in individual cats. In control animals, electrical vagal nerve stimulation significantly enhanced both the endoluminal secretion rate of 5-HTLI and the release of 5-HTLI into the portal vein. The vagally induced release of 5-HTLI into portal circulation was blocked by pretreatment with propranolol or phenoxybenzamine, or by previous removal of the superior cervical ganglia, but was not blocked by atropine or hexamethonium. On the contrary, the luminal secretion of 5-HTLI after vagal stimulation was not blocked by adrenoceptor blocking agents or ganglionectomy, but instead was inhibited by cholinoceptor antagonists. Thus, in the same experimental animals it was shown that vagally induced release of 5-HTLI into portal circulation was mediated by adrenoceptor mechanisms, while endoluminal release of 5-HTLI was regulated via cholinoceptors. Based on indirect estimations, the apical release of 5-HT seems to be quantitatively small in comparison with the release into portal circulation.