Study of the protective effects of dexamethasone on multiple organ injury in rats with severe acute pancreatitis.

Context: Pancreas, lung, kidney and liver injury has been proven to play an important role in severe acute pancreatitis.

Objective: To observe the protective effects of dexamethasone on multiple organs (pancreas, lung, kidney and liver) in rats with severe acute pancreatitis.

Animals: One hundred and thirty-five Sprague-Dawley rats.

Design: Ninety rats were prepared as severe acute pancreatitis models and were randomly divided into a control group and the dexamethasone treatment group (45 rats in each group). Another 45 rats were selected to be the sham operation group. Each group was randomly subdivided into 3 subgroups which were observed at 3, 6, and 12 h after surgery (15 rats in each subgroup).

Main Outcome Measures: The survival, gross and pathological findings under the light microscope, and the pathological scores of multiple organs in each group were recorded.

Results: There was no significant difference in survival between the dexamethasone treatment group and the control group (P=0.494). The pancreas pathological score was significantly lower in the dexamethasone treatment group than in the control group at the various time intervals (overall: P<0.001; 3 h: P=0.019; 6 h: P=0.010, 12 h: P<0.001). The lung pathological score was significantly lower in the dexamethasone treatment group than in the control group at 6 and 12 h (P=0.023 and P<0.001, respectively). The kidney (P<0.001) and liver (P=0.009) pathological scores were also significantly lower in the overall dexamethasone treatment group than in the overall control group, but significant differences were found only in some time intervals (kidney: 6 and 12 h, P=0.006 and P=0.044, respectively; liver: 12 h, P=0.046).

Conclusion: Intravenous injection of dexamethasone can alleviate pancreas, lung, kidney and liver injury of rats with severe acute pancreatitis and may have protective effects on multiple organ injury.