Interaction between stimulants of exocrine pancreatic secretion in dogs.

We measured bicarbonate and protein secretory responses to graded doses of intravenous caerulein and bethanechol and intraduodenal L-phenylalanine alone or with background secretin; graded doses of secretin alone or with background caerulein or L-phenylalanine; and background secretin plus graded doses of caerulein or L-phenylalanine plus background atropine sulfate. Potentiation (more-than-additive response) occurred for bicarbonate secretion between secretin and caerulein, between secretin and L-phenylalanine, but not between secretin and bethanechol. The only potentiating interaction for protein secretion was between secretin and low doses of caerulein. Atropine abolished the potentiated bicarbonate response to secretin plus L-phenylalanine but had no effect on the response to secretin plus caerulein. Potentiation between secretin and cholinergic mechanisms and cholecystokinin for pancreatic bicarbonate secretion may be an important regulatory mechanism, while potentiation of protein secretion with these stimulants does not appear to be important in dogs. A cholinergic mechanism mediates much of the bicarbonate potentiation between secretin and intestinal L-phenylalanine.