PubMed Health⌕ Search
Home/Archive/PubMed

PubMed · 10677785

The pancreas.

J H Baron
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Pancreatic secretion was first studied at The Mount Sinai Hospital by Crohn in 1912, but measurements of pancreatic enzymes in duodenal aspirate or feces were found unhelpful in diagnosis. Such pancreatic tests fell into disuse because of advances in radiology of the biliary tree in the 1920s. Once extracts of secretin and cholecystokinin-pancreozymin became available from Sweden in the 1930s, it became possible for the biochemist Franklin Hollander and the surgeon David Dreiling to develop pancreatic secretion tests into practical procedures for the diagnosis of benign and malignant diseases of the pancreas and biliary tree, and produce physiological studies of the mechanisms of ion transport. With more purified hormones, it became possible to measure maximum (alkaline) bicarbonate output of the pancreas analogous to the maximal acid response of the stomach to an augmented histamine test, and to determine whether patients with duodenal ulcer had decreased neutralization of gastric acid in the duodenum. Clinical studies were also directed to the pathophysiology of acute relapsing and chronic pancreatitis and carcinoma. However, advances in imaging and endoscopy have now shifted the thrust of pancreatology.

Explore related subjects

GastroenterologyHistory, 20th CenturyHospitals, GeneralNew York CityPancreasPancreatic DiseasesBiographyHistorical ArticleJournal Article

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

J H Baron. 2000. The pancreas.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10677785/

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

PubMed2006

'The success of the mentee is the mentor's ultimate reward'. An interview with Dr. Michael L. Steer by Martin E. Fernandez-Zapico.

In this interview, Dr. Michael Steer shares his life experience in pancreatic research, discusses the importance of mentorship and gives advice to young investigators starting in this field. Dr. Michael Steer is a world-renown investigator who has made an extraordinary contribution to the understanding of pancreatic physiology. His achievements in the field of acute pancreatitis were the foundation for the characterization of the cellular basis for this disease.

Gastroenterology↗
PubMed2006

Friedrich Feyrter: a precise intellect in a diffuse system.

Prior to the contributions of Friedrich Feyrter (1895-1973), the regulation of gastrointestinal function was an ill-understood field that was polarized by a combination of the inability of clinical scientists to perceive the relationship between the cellular elements of 'nervism' and the newly recognized chemical messenger system. Feyrter, an Austrian pathologist of luminescent intellect and possessed of rigorous analytic capacity, recognized the interface of the divergent elements (neural and endocrine) and established the concept of the diffuse neuroendocrine system. His pathological descriptions of the specialized neuroendocrine cells producing biologically active substances and regulating homeostasis by a network functioning via endocrine, paracrine, and neuracrine mechanisms laid the basis for contemporary understanding of gut function. In 1938, Feyrter identified Helle Zellen (clear cells) of the pancreas and gastrointestinal tract, which was later incorporated into the amine precursor uptake decarboxylation concept of endocrine cells by A.G.E. Pearse (1916-2003). Feyrter proposed a diffuse network as a functional regulatory system as opposed to the then current doctrine of 'organ' regulation in his 1938 manuscript Uber diffuse endokrine epitheliale Organe. In addition to this seminal contribution, the prodigious intellect of Feyrter produced an array of novel observations including benign and malignant tumors of the skin, gastrointestinal tract, and eyes, carcinoid tumors and the carcinoid syndrome, the genesis of the nevus, the transformation of lipids and disorders of cellular metabolism. Sadly, the contributions of Feyrter were obscured in the catastrophe of wartime Germany and his accomplishments little recognized. We describe the life and times of this gifted scientist, teacher, and pathologist, often referred to as the 'Father of Neuroendocrinology'.

Gastroenterology↗