The numerous attempts to determine the effect of extracts of the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland on the motility of the gastro-intestinal tract have occasioned conflicting and contradictory observations. Having at our disposal a number of patients and several trained dogs with intestinal fistulas, we attempted a further elucidation of this problem.
The literature on this subject is extensive and can be summarized only briefly here.
EFFECT OF POSTERIOR PITUITARY EXTRACTS ON EXCISED STRIPS AND ISOLATED SEGMENTS OF THE INTESTINE
Whereas one might suspect a priori that the effect of posterior pituitary extracts on extirpated intestinal strips could be easily determined, in actual practice the problem is far from solved.1The species of the experimental animal,2 the Ph of the bath,3 the presence of histamine or other impurities,4 and the depressor antiseptics contained in commercial extracts5 serve to explain the varying and contradictory