GLUTATHIONE AND ATP LEVELS, SUBCELLULAR-DISTRIBUTION OF ENZYMES, AND PERMEABILITY OF DUCT SYSTEM IN RABBIT PANCREAS FOLLOWING INTRAVENOUS ADMINISTRATION OF ALCOHOL AND CERULEIN

In order to reproduce what might occur during the initial phase in som e cases of acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis, rabbits were infused wi th diluted ethanol and low-dose cerulein. The duct permeability was as sessed by recovery of fluoresceinated dextran (molecular weight 19,500 ) in central venous blood following orthograde duct perfusion with thi s substance in the anesthetized animal. Serum ethanol, lipase, and amy lase were measured; pancreatic duct morphology was examined by light m icroscopy and electron microscopy. ATP and glutathione were measured, as were amylase, trypsinogen/trypsin, cathepsin B, and DNA levels in d ifferential centrifugates. As expected, acinar amylase and trypsinogen showed a significant decrease in the experimental group; cathepsin B activity was similarly diminished. Compared with the control group, th e activity of serum amylase and lipase in the experimental group demon strated a significant increase. However, no differences between saline -infused control animals and the treated group regarding pancreatic du ct permeability, continuity of lumen-lining epithelium, ATP and glutat hione levels, and the relative subcellular distribution of pancreatic digestive and lysosomal enzymes were observed. Thus, our findings do n ot support the relevance of some of the most common hypotheses on the pathophysiology of acute pancreatitis in its early stage for at least a certain subgroup of patients with acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis .