5-Hydroxytryptamine in a Carcinoid Tumour

Abstract

ERSPAMER¹ was the first to assume enterochromaffine cells of the gastrointestinal tract to contain enteramine (5-hydroxytryptamine serotonin). Feyrter² regarded these cells as a part of the entity he calls the “Helle-Zellen-Systeme” in general, subdividing it into the “Insuläres Gangorgan” of the pancreas, the probable origin of glucagon (Gaede, Ferner and Kastrup³), and the “Gelbe-Zellen” or enterochromaffine cells of the gastrointestinal tract. Carcinoids, which are tumours originating from these cells, have already been examined with regard to pharmacodynamically active substances by Feyrter and Unna⁴ and by Selberg⁵. Their results were inconclusive and divergent.