A non-terminal surgical procedure for chronic collection of exocrine pancreatic secretions from unrestrained dogs (Canis familiaris).

The ability of dogs to adaptively modulate secretion by the exocrine pancreas to match changes in the amounts and sources of macronutrients is poorly understood. We evaluated the use of re-entrant pancreatic catheters as a non-terminal, temporary approach for the chronic collection of exocrine pancreatic secretion using unrestrained dogs fed diets differing in composition. Re-entrant catheters were surgically placed in the accessory pancreatic duct of two adult mongrel dogs. Secretions were collected for 40 days, during which the dogs were fed three diets with different amounts and sources of macronutrients. The volume of secretion was recorded, protein content was measured, and the activities of trypsin, chymotrypsin, amylase, and lipase were assayed. Inter-dog variation was detected for the volume of secretion (ml/h) but not for protein content (mg/ml) or activities (U/ml) of the enzymes. The volume and composition of the secretion differed among diets. The responses were delayed about 4 days, were transient, and did not coincide with the changes in diet composition. We found that the re-entrant catheters were suitable for studying the exocrine pancreatic secretion of dogs. Our findings were inconclusive about the influence of diet but suggested that adult dogs have a limited and nonspecific response of pancreatic secretion.