Gastric Blood Flow and Inhibition of Histamine-Stimulated Gastric Secretion

Abstract

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM INFLUENCE on gastric ulcerogenesis was demonstrated in the 1840's by Rokitansky¹ and Schiff.² It remained, however, for Cushing's³ clinical observations reported in 1932 to confirm the concept of this relationship and thus render impetus to further experimentation in this field. It has previously been demonstrated that stimulation of the anterior hypothalamus results in enhanced hydrochloric acid secretion⁴ as well as increased blood flow.⁵ By contrast, stimulation of the posterior hypothalamus did not initiate hydrochloric acid secretion, in fact, it resulted in inhibition of hydrochloric acid secretion following subcutaneously administered histamine.⁴ Further experiments revealed a marked decrease in gastric blood flow following posterior hypothalamic stimulation.⁵ Thus a relationship between blood flow and secretory capacity of the stomach influenced by the autonomic nervous system was in part established in separate studies. The following experiment was devised in order to measure directly blood