Plaunotol, an acyclic diterpene alcohol is a new antiulcer agent derived from the leaves of the plau-noi plant. We investigated the effect of plaunotol on the release of endogenous secretin with radioimmunoassay and exocrine pancreatic secretion, using a dye dilution technique with polyethylene glycol 4,000 as a nonabsorbable marker in eight human volunteers. Intrajejunal administration of plaunotol (pH 6.5) in three different doses (80, 160, and 320 mg/30 min) resulted in significant increases in both plasma secretin concentration and pancreatic bicarbonate secretion in a dose-related manner (r = 0.819 and 0.701, p less than 0.001, respectively). Bicarbonate outputs produced by plaunotol correlated well with plasma secretin concentrations (r = 0.727, p less than 0.001). Amylase output was also increased significantly by plaunotol. However, the response was not dose-dependent from that of bicarbonate output. These results indicate that endogenous secretin is released by plaunotol in humans and suggest that the increased pancreatic bicarbonate secretion can be attributed to the increased plasma secretin concentration.