Three-day continuous drainage of pancreatic juice in the cortisone-treated conscious rat: analysis of enzyme activities and ultrastructural changes.

We have investigated the short-term effects of hydrocortisone (60 mg/kg per day) and placebo on basal and stimulated pancreatic secretion in the conscious rat. Volume and enzyme secretion were determined; fine structural changes were examined simultaneously. The pancreatic and bile ducts were cannulated separately; pancreatic juice was drained via an isolated fistula, and bile was recirculated into the duodenum. The application of hydrocortisone led to an almost complete inhibition of the secretory response of the exocrine pancreas when stimulated with 0.25 U secretin in combination with 5 X 10(-8) g caerulein per h. It strongly affected the secretion rates of volume, protein, lipase, chymotrypsin, trypsin and carboxypeptidase, whereas the secretion rate of alpha-amylase continued to show a slight increase after stimulation. After stimulation with secretin and caerulein, the hydrocortisone-treated animals showed a higher density of zymogen granules in the acinar cell and an increase in the number of autophagic vacuoles in comparison to the equally stimulated placebo-treated rats. It is concluded that the short-term inhibition of pancreatic secretion by hydrocortisone occurs largely as a result of an inhibition of cellular enzyme discharge.

Effects of biliary diversion to the ileum on the in situ disaccharidase activities of duodenal and ileal mucosa in the rat: a study on enzyme kinetics in tissue sections.

In order to study the influence of biliary secretions on the in situ kinetic data of brush border disaccharidases in relation to small intestinal villus-crypt architecture, an anastomosis was constructed between the common bile duct, which had been divided before its entrance into the pancreatic head, and the ileum in adult female Wistar rats. Simple attachment of the terminal ileum to the liver hilum was performed in the controls. Six weeks after the operation, tissue sections were prepared from duodenum and ileum of biliary-diverted and control animals (n = 5 in each group) and examined by section biochemistry and morphometry. In both groups the apparent Vmax values of neutral alpha-glucosidase and lactase/beta-glucosidase, measured at the villus base and at its apex, and the villus height were decreased from the duodenum towards the distal ileum. After biliary diversion to the ileum, an increase in villus height ensued in this segment, and the increasing gradient of glucosidase activity towards the villus apex, as seen in the ileum of the controls, was no longer detectable. In the duodenum, however, villus height remained unaltered and the in situ activity of the disaccharidases was increased at both villus sites when compared with the controls. The results indicate different effects of bile on mucosal morphology and function in the proximal and distal small intestine.

Exteriorized lymphatico-venous shunts in conscious rats.

Surgical techniques for establishing fistulas of the hepatic and intestinal lymphatics and thoracic duct in conscious rats are described. Continuous recirculation of the lymph into the vena cava inferior is performed by a device which measures flow velocity before returning the lymph to the animal through a permanent venous catheter. Clotting is prevented in all cases by constant infusion of an anticoagulant solution (containing heparin or Na-citrate) into the top of the indwelling catheter.