hypoglycaemia-stimulated gastric secretion

Insulin-induced hypoglycaemia leads to vagally mediated stimulation of gastric secretion (Hollander, 1946). Insulin-induced hypoglycaemia also produces a stress response mediated by the sympathetic nervous system (Cannon, McIver, and Bliss, 1924; von Euler and Luft, 1952; Duner, 1954; Cantu, Wise, Goldfien, Gullixson, Fischer, and Ganong, 1963). Adrenaline and l-noradrenaline reduce basal and stimulated gastric secretion (Baronofsky and Wangensteen, 1945; Forrest and Code, 1954; Leonsins and Waddell, 1958; Nicoloff, Peter, Stone, and Wangensteen, 1964; Haigh, Moffitt, and Steedman, 1967). It appears therefore that the effects on secretion of the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems are mutually antagonistic. This study was undertaken to determine whether inhibition of the sympathetic component leads to a rise in human secretion during insulin-induced hypoglycaemia. In order to achieve adequate inhibition of this sympathetic component it is necessary to block specifically both alpha and beta sympathetic receptors (Ahlquist, 1948) simultaneously, and this was done.