Pancreatectomy in the rat, sufficient to induce severe diabetes, is without practical effect on the absorption of the nutrients of purified diets. Attempts to reduce the contribution of small residual fragments of pancreas revealed that the rat is capable of normal or near normal digestion with less than 1% of the contribution of its exocrine pancreas. The ability of the duct-ligated rat to re-establish exocrine flow was demonstrated, and a procedure was developed to circumvent this adaptation. This produced rats with highly variable abilities to absorb nutrients. The intestine is implicated as a major factor determining the ability of an animal to absorb nutrients in the absence of pancreatic exocrine secretions.
Observations are reported in which the curves obtained from the glucose tolerance test depend upon the nature of the diet on which the animals have been maintained. On a casein sucrose diet the glucose blood levels approach 200 mg % as compared to 120 mg % on a cereal ration. These observations are discussed in the light of the work of von Noorden and Himsworth. It is suggested that they may be explained either by the metabolic adjustment to the digestion of complex carbohydrates or to the presence of a hypoglycemic substance.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.