SECRETION OF INSULIN AND OF A HYPERGLYCEMIC SUBSTANCE STUDIED BY MEANS OF PANCREATIC-FEMORAL CROSS-CIRCULATION EXPERIMENTS

Abstract

35 cross-circulation expts. were made by anastomosing the pancreatico-duodenal or the mesenteric vein of a donor dog A and the femoral vein of a recipient dog B. Return circulation was established between the femoral artery of B and the femoral vein of A. The blood sugar of a dog receiving pancreatic blood from a normal donor injd. with glucose (1 g./kg.) decreases sharply. This is interpreted as indicating that the hypoglycemia produced in A stimulates insulin secretion which, in turn, produced hypoglycemia in B. When saline is injd. instead of glucose the glycernia of B does not change. When the transfusing blood derives from the mesenteric vein of a normal donor the blood sugar of the recipient dog increases instead of decreasing. This increase is more marked and sustained if the anastomosis is made with pancreatic but not with the mesenteric vein of an alloxan diabetic donor. The latter hyperglycemia suggests that the pancreatic blood of the alloxan diabetic dog contains a hyperglycemic substance produced by the alloxan resistant portion of the pancreas and active in vivo.