The effect of serum from patients with pancreatic disease on the short circuit current of rat jejunum.

The short circuit current rat jejunum bioassay, first employed in an attempt 
to discern the cystic fibrosis (CF) serum "factor," was evaluated using 
sera from patients with pancreatic disease. The data suggest other pancreatic 
diseases, specifically genetic diabetes and alcoholic pancreatitis, also present with a 
serum "factor" (or "factors") which reduce the short circuit current of 
rat jejunum, an effect very similar to that of the CF 
serum "factor." A large number of sera from presumed normal subjects 
also exhibited a significant reduction in short circuit current; these (false 
positives) represent a yet to be defined mechanism, however, they do 
decrease the likelihood that the observed effect is merely due to 
pancreatic destruction. Detailed procedure and equipment specifications for the bioassay system 
are included. 