Experimental acute pancreatitis: action of atropine and beta-haloethylamine furoate on muscarine-induced exocrine pancreatic secretion.

Intraarterially administered muscarine induced predictable and reproducible experimental acute pancreatitis with a simultaneous increase in amylase levels in blood. Muscarine also caused a transient rise followed by a lowering of blood glucose levels. The stimulated amylase secretion was dose-response related. The guinea pigs survived 2--2 1/2 h after muscarine administration. Atropine (3 and 5 mg/kg), an antimuscarinic agent, injected intraperitoneally 2 h prior to muscarine administration, (a) inhibited muscarine-induced amylase secretion, and (b) marginally increased the survival time of guinea pigs, but could not sustain the animals for further experimentation. The high death rate of experimental animals prevented the use of this method as a model for investigation of experimental acute pancreatitis.