Exocrine pancreatic secretion in the Syrian golden hamster Mesocricetus auratus--III. Effects of carcinogen administration and development of pancreas cancer.

The short- and long-term effects of the administration of the pancreas carcinogen N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine (BOP) on pancreatic exocrine secretion were examined in Syrian hamsters with and without stimulation by secretin and pancreozymin. Protein concentration, flow rate, pH and ion content, (Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3-, Cl-, HPO4(2-) and SO4(2-)) were measured. An immediate effect of BOP is the stimulation of flow rate in females and of protein secretion in both sexes. Multiple doses of BOP significantly altered the parameters mentioned in Section 2 only in the later stages of tumorigenesis. When these animals were stimulated with secretin or pancreozymin large decreases in flow rate and protein content of secretions were observed as early as 8 weeks after BOP treatment. Insulin-like immunoreactivity and growth hormone-like immunoreactivity were detected in collected pancreatic secretions.