Histamine as a Physiological Excitant of Acid Gastric Secretion.

Summary. In cats and dogs acid gastric juice contains histamine in a physiologically active state. The histamine content of gastric juice is independent of the mode of stimulus employed in exciting the parietal cells, thus being of the same order in juice from the cephalic and gastric phases and in juice obtained by injection of secretopogue drugs. The histamine concentration of the juice secreted during the cephalic and gastric phases is sufficient to stimulate the parietal cells. Histamine‐free preparation of “gastrin” cause a liberation of histamine from the fundic mucosa as judged by the occurrence of histamine in the acid juice. It is suggested that in the humoral mechanism instrumental in exciting the parietal cells in the cephalic as well as in the gastric phase of acid secretion histamine represents the second, final link The expenses of this investigation have been defrayed in part by a grant from the Research Fund “Stiftelsen Therese och Johan Anderssons Minne”.