Immunosympathectomy and Gastric Secretion

Abstract

Gastric function studies in five immunosympathectomized animals suggest that the sympathetic nervous system plays little or no part in production of acid or pepsin. However, all the immunosympathectomized animals developed acute gastric ulcers or hyperemia or both after two hours of pyloric ligation, and the concentrations of surface and glandular mucus of the stomach were reduced in histological sections. Thus, the sympathetic nervous system seems to play an important part in the protective mechanism of the gastric mucosa in the rat.