Potentiation of Sham Feeding Response in Pavlov Pouch Dogs by Subthreshold Amounts of Gastrin with and without Acidification of Denervated Antrum

The sham feeding response of Pavlov pouch dogs, in which gastrin release had been suppressed by total denervation or resection of the antrum, was augmented 4–21 times by i.v. injection of subthreshold amounts of gastrin demonstrating that subthreshold amounts of gastrin potentiated the effect of vagal stimulation of the HCl glands. The sham feeding responses with or without potentation by subthreshold amounts of exogenous gastrin were not inhibited by acidification of totally denervated antral pouches, suggesting that the hypothetical antral chalone does not interfere at the parietal cell level with the cephalic phase of gastric acid secretion.