Secretin is a hormone produced in the duodenum that helps neutralize stomach acid and triggers the production of pancreatic juices and hepatic bile. It is also used in a test to check pancreatic function.
Secretin is a hormone produced in the duodenum that plays an important role in the digestive process and also appears to be involved in osmoregulation, the process the body uses to keep the internal balance of salt and fluid stable. This hormone can also be introduced into the body, usually in a test designed to check pancreatic function. The secretion for injection or introduction into the body through a gastric tube is available from several pharmaceutical companies, by prescription only.
A cascading series of reactions occurs as people begin to digest food. Secretin is one of many actors involved. As food moves through the stomach, it goes into a partially digested state known as chyme. Chyme is very acidic due to the gastric juices it has been marinated in, and when it begins to be pushed into the intestines, secretin kicks in.
One of the things secretin does is trigger the production of bicarbonates which are used to neutralize the acid in the chyme so it doesn’t harm the intestines. Unlike the stomach, the intestines aren’t equipped to deal with the harsh gastric juices used in the early stages of digestion. The release of secretin also tells the stomach to stop producing gastric juices, indicating that the next stage of digestion is starting and the stomach can take a break.
Secretin also triggers the production of pancreatic juices and hepatic bile, which are used to lubricate chyme as it moves through the digestive tract. Furthermore, if the glucose content of the food is high, secretin will also stimulate the production of insulin to manage glucose.
In the secretion stimulation test, a patient will be injected with secretin to see how the pancreas responds. If stimulation with this hormone does not lead to the production of pancreatic juices, it indicates that the patient has a medical problem that needs to be identified and treated. This test can be uncomfortable, as secretin is often introduced through a gastric tube, and many people gag when placing and removing the tube.
This hormone has another distinction: it was the first hormone identified. Researchers working with the digestive tract in the early 1900s noted that this compound seemed to play an important role, sending chemical signals to moderate the digestive process. This contradicted the expectation that the digestive process was mediated by the nervous system, changing the way scientists thought about the body and paving the way for the discovery of other “chemical messengers,” which came to be called hormones.
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