Abstract
THE function of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) in the tissues of the small intestine is not understood even though it is found in relatively large quantities, particularly in the enterochromaffin cells1. The most frequently repeated interpretation ascribes control of intestinal motility and vascular permeability to serotonin2,3. Thus, if the tonus of the gut is dependent on serotonin-levels, germ-free animals, which possess poor tonus of the tract and distended cæca4, might be expected to have a lower serotonin content in the gut than conventional animals. On the contrary, however, this communication provides evidence that intestinal serotonin-levels are actually depressed by the presence of micro-organisms in the lumen of the gut.
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PHILLIPS, A., NEWCOMB, H., SMITH, J. et al. Serotonin in the Small Intestine of Conventional and Germ-free Chicks. Nature 192, 380 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/192380a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/192380a0
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