Migrational responses of Hymenolepis diminuta to surgical alteration of gastro-intestinal secretions.

The effects of the direction of gut flow, of injections of glucose and saline into different regions of the small intestine and of surgical re-routing or ligature of gastric, biliary and pancreatic secretions into the small intestine have been correlated with changes in the migratory response of the rat tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta. Reversing the normal anterior to distal flow of luminal contents in the small intestine did not affect worm migration following feeding. Injections of a glucose-saline solution into the duodenum did not initiate a migratory response; similar injections into the mid- and posterior regions of the small intestine resulted in migrational responses similar to those following intragastric glucose feeding. Re-routing gastric secretions to the distal duodenum inhibited anterior migration of the worms beyond the new point of entry of gastric juices. Results following re-routing and ligation of the biliary and pancreatic secretions suggest that there is a potent cue to anteriad migration in the pancreatic secretions. Biliary secretions also appear to contain an additional migratory cue to worm migration. In order of importance the factors stimulating/inhibiting worm migration are pancreatic greater than gastric greater than biliary greater than glucose. The results support the hypothesis that the factors affecting worm distribution in the small intestine are interactive and synergistic, involve other luminal factors, such as 5-hydroxytryptamine and the physico-chemical gradients, and are of a regional nature such that the migratory response of a particular worm is directly related to its position in the small intestine when the cues to relocation are received.