Maximal acid response of Pavlov pouches to food and histamine

Secretion of gastric acid in response to histamine, insulin, and a meal of liver, with and without 5% bone dust, was studied in three dogs with Pavlov pouches and gastric fistulas. The ratios of insulin-induced to histamine-induced secretion were the same in pouch and main stomach indicating that their innervation was equivalent. Meals of a liver and bone dust mixture in amounts of 11 to 44 g/kg resulted in Pavlov pouch acid outputs that were 34 to 56% higher than the maximal response to histamine (p < 0·05 to < 0·001). Liver without bone dust also produced higher acid outputs than histamine. These results indicate that combinations of endogenously generated stimuli can produce a potentiated gastric response which exceeds that produced by histamine alone.