Effect of acute pancreatitis on porcine intestine: a morphological study.

Aim: The ultrastructural changes in the intestine were studied during experimental acute edematous and necrotizing porcine pancreatitis. The immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin in the jejunum and colon was assessed to characterize changes in the adherens junctions.

Methods: Twenty-four pigs were randomized to controls (n = 8) or to develop mild edematous (n = 8, saline infusion to pancreatic duct) or severe necrotizing pancreatitis (n = 8, taurocholic acid infusion).

Portal vein cytokines in the early phase of acute experimental oedematous and necrotizing porcine pancreatitis.

Objective: Cytokines initiate and modify systemic inflammatory response in early acute pancreatitis. The aim of this study was to analyze which cytokines are released from the pancreas to portal venous blood in the early phase of acute experimental necrotizing and oedematous pancreatitis and which of those cytokines are correlated with the more severe form of the disease.

Material And Methods: Fifteen pigs were randomized to develop mild oedematous pancreatitis (n = 5, saline infusion to pancreatic duct), severe necrotizing pancreatitis (n = 5, taurocholic acid infusion) along with a control group (n = 5).

Intestinal bacterial translocation and tight junction structure in acute porcine pancreatitis.

Background/aims: To examine whether intestinal bacterial translocation occurs early in acute mild and severe pancreatitis and whether the intestinal expression of tight junction proteins (claudins-2, -3, -4, -5, -7), apoptosis or proliferation would explain the possible translocation.

Methodology: Fifteen pigs were randomized to controls (n=5) or to develop mild edematous pancreatitis (n=5, saline infusion to pancreatic duct) or severe necrotic pancreatitis (n=5, taurocholic acid infusion). Translocation was studied by measuring bacterial cultures from portal vein blood and mesenteric lymph nodes.