A pharmacological study of the motility of the human gastrointestinal tract.

Abstract

EDITORIAL SYNOPSIS This is a comprehensive study of the pharmacological responses of strips of isolated human gastrointestinal tract. The results suggest that there is little 'intrinsic nervous act- ivity' in the stomach and proximal duodenum but there is a dominant cholinergic drive in thc distal duodenum and, in particular, in the jejunum. More distally, in the ileum and especially in the colon the dominant influence is the 'intrinsic sympathetic activity'. The authors relate their findings to the functions of different regions of the gastrointestinal tract.