Secretin

Hormone made by glands in the small intestine that stimulates pancreatic secretion. The word "hormone" was coined by the English physiologists Wm. M. Bayliss and Ernest H. Starling in connection with their discovery of secretin, the first hormone described, in 1902. In 1999, several research centers began studies of secretin as a treatment for autism. Commercially available secretin is either porcine (from pigs) or a synthesized form of human secretin.

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A hormone, formed by the epithelial cells of the duodenum under the stimulus of acid contents from the stomach, that incites secretion of pancreatic juice; used as a diagnostic aid in the diagnosis of pancreatic exocrine disease and as an adjunct in obtaining desquamated pancreatic cells for cytological examination. SYN: oxykrinin. [secrete + -in]

- s. family a class of hormones that are structurally and functionally similar to s.; E.G., s., glucagon, gastric inhibitory polypeptide, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, and glicentin.

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se·cre·tin si-'krēt-ən n an intestinal proteinaceous hormone capable of stimulating secretion by the pancreas and liver

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n.

a hormone secreted from the small intestine (duodenum) when acidified food leaves the stomach. It stimulates the secretion of relatively enzyme-free alkaline juice by the pancreas (see pancreatic juice) and of bile by the liver.

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se·cre·tin (se-kreґtin) a strongly basic polypeptide hormone secreted by the mucosa of the duodenum and upper jejunum when acid chyme enters the intestine. It stimulates the release of pancreatic juice by the pancreas and to a lesser extent bile by the liver, both of which contain bicarbonate and change the pH of the duodenum from acid to alkaline, thereby facilitating the action of intestinal digestive enzymes. Secretin is used in pancreatic function tests and tests for gastrinoma; see secretin test, under test.