OCTREOTIDE - EFFECTS IN EXPERIMENTAL SEVERE ACUTE-PANCREATITIS - ANALYSIS OF SURVIVAL, BIOCHEMICAL FINDINGS AND HISTOMORPHOMETRY

Objective: The effect of octreotide in acute experimental pancreatitis was examined. Experimental design: Acute pancreatitis was induced in 70 male Wistar rats by retrograde injection of 5% sodium taurocholate into the pancreatic duct, Octreotide (50 mu g = 0.5 mi) or isotonic sa line was administered subcutaneously every six hours for 24 hours, beg inning at the time of induction of pancreatitis (groups 1 and 2) or 12 hours later (groups 3 and 4), Six hours after the last dose of octreo tide or saline, the rats were sacrificed. Ten additional rats were use d for basal biochemical determination, For the analysis of survival, a nother 10 rats were included. The survival rate, serum concentrations of amylase, lipase and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and morphometric st udies (fetal area of the pancreas and percentage necrosis) were examin ed. Statistical analysis involved Student's t test, ANOVA and the Mant el-Haenszel test. Results: No significant differences existed among th e groups with respect to survival, morphometric analysis or biochemica l determinations, except for a minor increase in LDH levels in the gro up treated with octreotide at the time of induction. Conclusions: Octr eotide administration has almost no impact on mortality in experimenta l severe acute pancreatitis, Biochemical and morphometric changes are minimal. Therefore, according to the present study, the efficacy of oc treotide administration is very low.