Studies on the exocrine function of healthy human pancreas: pancreatic juice and its certain components

The exocrine function of healthy pancreas was studied continuously during 9 days in a 28-year-old man. Pancreatic juice was collected by means of a drain passed into Wirsung's duct. The 24-hour volume of the juice was 1118 +/- 117 ml. In daytime the mean rate of juice secretion was 56 ml/hour and in the night it decreased to 20 ml/hour. Amylase and lipase activity in the pancreatic juice was very high and significantly higher in nocturnal secretion. Administration of 2% HCL or secretin (1.5 mu/kg) increased the volume of juice by 30 ml in the following hour without changes in the activities of amylase and lipase. Atropine ephedrine and pancreatin reduced the juice volume by 20-40 ml but the enzymatic acitivity decreased only after atropine. The rise in the juice volume was associated with an increase in its HCO3 concentration and a fall in CL- concentration. The levels of Ca++, K+ and Na+ as well as protein were also determined and it was found that protein concentration in the juice ranges from 0.1 to 4.1 g/100 ml.