Regulation of digestion. I. Effects of glucose and lysine on pancreatic secretion.

Previous cell-free studies have shown that glucose selectively elicits the release of amylase from pancreatic zymogen granules, whereas lysine promotes the selective release of trypsinogen. To investigate the expression of these effects in situ, glucose or lysine was injected into the celiac artery of anesthetized rats, either alone or together with the pancreatic secretagogue cholecystokinin, to evaluate their effects on the secretion of amylase and trypsinogen by the pancreas. When given alone neither substance significantly changed the output of either enzyme. However, when given with cholecystokinin, each altered the effect observed with injection of cholecystokinin alone. The injection of glucose resulted in a twofold increase in both peak and total amylase output without significantly increasing trypsinogen secretion, whereas lysine increased both peak and total trypsinogen output by about 50%, leaving amylase output unchanged. These findings provide in situ confirmation for the selective enzyme release produced by glucose and lysine in cell-free studies and suggest that such end products of digestion can regulate the digestive process by modifying the secretory response of the pancreas to cholecystokinin.