Bacterial endotoxin: a trigger factor for alcoholic pancreatitis? Evidence from a novel, physiologically relevant animal model.

Background & Aims: This study examined the possible role of endotoxinemia (from increased gut permeability) as an additional trigger factor for overt pancreatic disease and as a promoter of chronic pancreatic injury in alcoholics by using a rat model of chronic alcohol feeding and in vitro experiments with cultured pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs), the key mediators of pancreatic fibrosis.

Methods: In the in vivo model, Sprague-Dawley rats fed isocaloric Lieber-DeCarli liquid diets +/- alcohol for 10 weeks were challenged with a single dose or 3 repeated doses of the endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and the pancreas was examined. In the in vitro studies, rat PSCs were assessed for activation on exposure to LPS +/- ethanol.