continuous secretion of a glandular product, such as saliva or gastric juice, after division of a nerve regulating glandular activity. This phenomenon was first described in 1864 by C. Bernard after denervation of a submaxillary gland. Subsequently, paralytic secretion was observed in gastric glands after division of the vagus nerve and in intestinal glands after denervation of the intestine.

Paralytic secretion increases during the first week after division of a nerve and then decreases, ceasing several weeks later when the nerve regenerates. It is apparently caused by the stimulating effect of humoral factors in the blood on denervated glandular cells.