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Glutathione and ATP levels, subcellular distribution of enzymes, and permeability of duct system in rabbit pancreas following intravenous administration of alcohol and cerulein

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Abstract

In order to reproduce what might occur during the initial phase in some cases of acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis, rabbits were infused with diluted ethanol and low-dose cerulein. The duct permeability was assessed by recovery of fluoresceinated dextran (molecular weight 19,500) in central venous blood following orthograde duct perfusion with this substance in the anesthetized animal. Serum ethanol, lipase, and amylase were measured; pancreatic duct morphology was examined by light microscopy and electron microscopy. ATP and glutathione were measured, as were amylase, trypsinogen/trypsin, cathepsin B, and DNA levels in differential centrifugates. As expected, acinar amylase and trypsinogen showed a significant decrease in the experimental group; cathepsin B activity was similarly diminished. Compared with the control group, the activity of serum amylase and lipase in the experimental group demonstrated a significant increase. However, no differences between saline-infused control animals and the treated group regarding pancreatic duct permeability, continuity of lumen-lining epithelium, ATP and glutathione levels, and the relative subcellular distribution of pancreatic digestive and lysosomal enzymes were observed. Thus, our findings do not support the relevance of some of the most common hypotheses on the pathophysiology of acute pancreatitis in its early stage for at least a certain subgroup of patients with acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. From the Gastroenterology Section, Medical Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco

    Reinhard E. Lüthen MD, Claus Niederau MD & James H. Grendell MD

  2. Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California

    Reinhard E. Lüthen MD, Claus Niederau MD & James H. Grendell MD

  3. Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Heinrich-Heine-University of Düsseldorf, Germany

    Reinhard E. Lüthen MD, Claus Niederau MD & James H. Grendell MD

Authors
  1. Reinhard E. Lüthen MD
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  2. Claus Niederau MD
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  3. James H. Grendell MD
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Additional information

Preliminary results of this study have been presented at the 1992 American Pancreatic Association Meeting in Chicago and have been published in abstract form (Pancreas 7:747, 1992).

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Lüthen, R.E., Niederau, C. & Grendell, J.H. Glutathione and ATP levels, subcellular distribution of enzymes, and permeability of duct system in rabbit pancreas following intravenous administration of alcohol and cerulein. Digest Dis Sci 39, 871–879 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02087436

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02087436

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