Bile Duct Response to Repeated Cerulein Induced Pancreatitis in the Rat

Authors: ALİ MENTEŞ, HASAN AYDEDE, ÜMİT BAYOL, FUNDA YILMAZ

Abstract: The typical morphology of common bile duct strictures in chronic pancreatitis suggests a pathogenesis not of encasement, but of mural changes in the common bile duct. Cerulein, 20 µg/kg was administered to male Wistar rats in four subcutaneous doses, hourly for 3 h, and was recorded as one application. Group A served as controls and received subcutaneous saline. Group B1 received one application of Cerulein and was sacrificed after 24 h. Group B2 was similar to B1, but was sacrificed two weeks later. Group B3 was given two applications of Cerulein with an interval of two weeks and was sacrificed two weeks after the second application. Group B4 received one application of Cerulein every week for four weeks and was sacrificed two weeks after the last application. Serum amylase levels, pancreatic edema and peripancreatic inflammatory infiltration scores increased with the severity and persistance of the insult. Bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase levels suggested cholestatic response in the groups that received repeated insults with Cerulein (Groups B3 and B4; p < 0.01). Moderate to strong immuno-histochemical positivity for type IV collagen at the wall of the common bile duct in animals with a persisting insult is suggestive of circumstantial evidence for mural changes as a causative factor of stricture formation in similar settings such as chronic pancreatitis with persistent inflammatory attacks.

Keywords: Pancreatitis, chemically induced; Pancreatitis, complications; Bile duct strictures; Rat pancreatitis.

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