Inhibition of salivary secretion and secretory potentials by g-strophantin, dinitrophenol and cyanide.

The hyperpolarization of the contraluminal acinar cell membrane which takes places when the submandibular gland is stimulated, is called the secretory potential. Much indirect evidence has been presented in favour of the hypothesis that the mechanism of establishment of this potential is due to an active electrogenic chloride transport, and not to a change of the membrane permeability for ions. This transport should be responsible for the formation of the saliva. If this is true, both secretory potentials and secretion should be inhibited to the same degree by metabolic inhibitors. In the present work it was found that the metabolic inhibitors dinitrophenol and cyanide and the cardiac glucoside g-strophantin (ouabain) had the ability to inhibit completely both secretion and secretory potentials in the perfused cat submandibular gland.