Use of 2 deoxy-D-glucose to test for the completeness of surgical vagotomy.

A synthetic analogue of glucose, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), stimulates vagal hypothalamic centres by lowering intracellular glucose levels. This substance has been used to elicit the vagal phase of gastric secretion in the rat, dog, and man (Baume, Nicholls, Barnett, and Room, 1966; Hirschowitz and Sachs, 1965; Duke, Hirschowitz, and Sachs, 1965). The acid response to 2-DG is equal to that produced by histamine infusion and greater than the response to insulin in the presence of intact vagal nerves (Duke et al., 1965). The stimulatory effect of 2-DG is reported to be abolished by the administration of atropine or by a complete surgical vagotomy (Hirschowitz and Sachs, 1965; Duke et al., 1965). It has been suggested that 2-DG may be superior to insulin for testing vagal mechanisms of stimulation of gastric secretion (Duke et al., 1965). This paper presents a comparison between the use of insulin and 2-DG in the postoperative assessment of the completeness of surgical vagotomy.