THE importance of the liver in the regulation of gastric secretion is well documented. A powerful gastric secretogogue is normally released into the portal circulation and inactivated by the liver. When portal venous blood bypasses the liver, this secretogogue is no longer destroyed and gastric hypersecretion results.1-6 Histamine may be the secretogogue responsible for this hypersecretion,5-8 as it is normally inactivated by the liver.5,7
Experimentally produced liver damage may be associated with gastric hypersecretion as well.9-13 It has been suggested that this hypersecretion is due to failure of inactivation of histamine7,13 or another enteric secretogogue, since the degree of hypersecretion has been shown to be related to the severity of the liver damage.10,11,13 Recently, however, Silen et al9 have suggested the possibility that the cirrhotic liver actually releases a gastric secretogogue. Thus, the mechanism of the gastric hypersecretion observed after liver damage remains