Exocrine Pancreatic Function Tests in Patas Monkeys (Erythrocebus patas)

SUMMARY Exocrine pancreatic function was estimated in 15 patas monkeys by a modified Lundh test. The monkeys were given a test meal injected through a double-lumen catheter into the duodenum, the intestinal contents were collected by aspiration with a syringe for 2 periods of 30 minutes each, and then aspirates were tested for enzyme activities; the test results were expressed in mean activities per 60 minutes. The average enzyme activities for 14 of the monkeys (less 1 monkey for which the data were unexplainably high) were 4.2 ± 2.27 iu/ml (= mEq/min/ml) for trypsin, 7.2 ± 2.45 units/ml for lipase, 12,871.7 ± 5,536.87 Somogyi units/dl for amylase (in 7 monkeys), and 158.7 ± 58.08 μg/ml for chymotrypsin (in 6 monkeys). Correlations between the various enzyme mean activities were statistically significant. In 8 monkeys, the test was repeated, and correlation for the trypsin mean activities of the 2 tests (r = 0.76, P < 0.05) was satisfactory. In 5 additional patas monkeys, the modified Lundh test results were compared with those obtained on pancreatic secretion after stimulation with a canine near-maximal dose of pancreozymin-secretin. Enzyme activities in the Lundh test ranged between 56.2% (amylase) and 78.4% (lipase) of the values observed after administration of pancreozymin-secretin. Both tests seemed suitable for studying exocrine pancreatic secretion in a large population of animals.