BACKGROUND In human acute pancreatitis two different types of secretory phospholipase A2 (PLA2) have been found. AIM To analyse the specific pattern of distribution of these PLA2 activities and their pathophysiological role in experimental acute pancreatitis. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Catalytic activities of secretory type I (pancreatic) and type II (non-pancreatic) PLA2 and the protein concentr...

Obestatin is a peptide derived from the proghrelin, a common prohormone for ghrelin and obestatin. Obestatin, like the ghrelin has been originally extracted from rat stomach, and the stomach seems to be a major source of circulating obestatin. Previous studies have shown that administration of ghrelin exhibits protective effect in the pancreas, inhibiting the development of acute pancreatitis. ...

The study was conducted to investigate whether galangin(GA), a natural flavonoid of the rhizome Alpinia galanga modulates the components of NLRP3 inflammasome, a multi protein complex which mediates inflammation in rats subjected to experimental pancreatitis by ethanol(EtOH) and cerulein administration. For the study, adult male albino Wistar rats were divided into four groups. Group 1 and 2 se...

The objective of this study was to investigate the role of MAPKAP kinase 2 (MK2) and heat shock protein (HSP) HSP60 in the pathogenesis of a new model of severe acute pancreatitis (AP). MK2 plays a significant role in the regulation of cytokines. It has been shown that induction and expression of several HSPs can protect against experimental pancreatitis. Interplay between both systems seems of...

Recent studies have shown that pretreatment with ghrelin exhibits protective effect in the gut. Administration of ghrelin reduces gastric mucosal damage, as well as inhibits the development of experimental pancreatitis. However, this protective effect requires administration of ghrelin before gastric or pancreatic damage and thus has a limited clinical value. The aim of present study was to ass...

BACKGROUND Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a necroinflammatory process resulting in extensive pancreatic fibrosis. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), a hematopoietic stem cell mobilizer, has been shown to exert an anti-fibrotic effect partly through the enrichment of bone marrow (BM) cells in fibrotic organ. We aimed to test the effect of G-CSF on fibrosis in a mouse model of CP. MET...

The inflammatory response during pancreatitis regulates necrotic and apoptotic rates of parenchymal cells. Neutrophil depletion by use of anti-polymorphonuclear serum (anti-PMN) increases apoptosis in experimental pancreatitis but the mechanism has not been determined. Our study was designed to investigate signaling mechanisms in pancreatic parenchymal cells regulating death responses with neut...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) regulate the development of chronic pancreatitis (CP) and are activated by the cytokine transforming growth factor β (TGFB). Integrins of the αv family promote TGFB signaling in mice, probably by interacting with the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequence of the TGFB latency-associated peptide, which frees TGFB to bind its cellular receptors. However, litt...

BACKGROUND The R122H mutation of the cationic trypsinogen was found in patients with hereditary pancreatitis. A transgenic animal carrying this mutation could be useful as a genetic model system of pancreatitis. METHODS Mice transgenic for the human R122H cationic trypsinogen were generated using the -205 fragment of the rat elastase promoter. The presence of the transgene was assayed in the ...