PURE PANCREATIC-JUICE FROM PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC-PANCREATITIS HAS AN IMPAIRED ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY

Conclusion. These data show that pure pancreatic juice of AICP patient s has a markedly defective antibacterial activity. This finding might be of potential clinical interest in the understanding of the pathophy siology of the disease. Background. The aim of the present study was t o test the antibacterial activity of pure pancreatic juice in patients with chronic pancreatitis. Methods. The study group consisted of ten patients with ethanol-induced chronic pancreatitis (AICP) and seven co ntrol patients free of pancreatic disease. All subjects had recently u ndergone a secretin-pancreozymin pancreatic function test. After an ov ernight fast, through a side-viewing endoscope, selective pancreatic d uct cannulation was performed. After secretin stimulation, pure pancre atic juice was obtained. Three fractions of different molecular weight s were separated. Samples were incubated with 1-mL suspension of 10(5) Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, and log(10) of colony-forming units were counted. Experiments were repeated by grading pancreatic juice concen tration, pH of the medium, and inoculum size. Results. No significant change of pH of pure pancreatic juice appeared between AICP and contro ls. Starting from 6-h observation, pure pancreatic juice of AICP patie nts showed a significant bacterial colonization vs controls (p < 0.01) . A direct correlation appeared between bacterial colonization and eit her pH and dilution of pancreatic juice (p < 0.001). Antibacterial act ivity was independent of inoculum size, enzymatic activation or inhibi tion, and heat treatment. The fraction with 1000-10,000 molecular weig ht was the one endowed with antibacterial activity.