the effect of atorvastatin on acute pancreatitis in rat: biochemical and pathological study

acute  pancreatitis (ap) is a common clinical  disease  caused mainly by gallstone impacting  the distal common bile-pancreatic duct and alcohol abuse, but other potential causes as  endoscopic  retrograde cholangiopancreatography  (ercp),  intra duct papillary mucinous tumor and hypercalcemia are claimed .  the incidence of ap has been increasing in recent years . accordingly, ap is a multifactorial disease associated with tissue edema, acinar necrosis, hemorrhage and the release of digestive enzymes to the pancreatic interstitium and to the systemic circulation with increased cytokine production and release, which can ultimately lead to deleterious local and systemic effects . previous evidence suggests that the pathogenesis of both ap and chronic pancreatitis can be associated with oxidative stress, regardless of the etiology of pancreatitis and is considered as a major pathogenic factor in ap .  in fact, reactive oxygen species (ros) are the important mediators in the initiation and development of the disease which destroy the cellular membrane, releasing the digestive enzymes and cellular proteins into the pancreatic interstitium .