The antioxidant profiles of patients with recurrent acute and chronic pancreatitis

OBJECTIVE: It has been suggested that patients with chronic pancreatitis ha ve antioxidant deficiencies. It is unclear whether these antioxidant defici encies also occur in patients with recurrent acute pancreatitis and whether this condition represents an intermediate state between normality and chro nic pancreatitis. The aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant pr ofiles of patients with pancreatitis (recurrent acute and chronic) and to c ompare their profiles with a control population. METHODS: The antioxidant profiles of patients with chronic pancreatitis (n = 27) and recurrent acute pancreatitis (n = 11) were determined and compare d with the antioxidant profiles of control subjects (n = 19). The following parameters were measured in blood: trace elements (selenium, copper, zinc) , vitamins A and E, and carotenoids (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, xanthin e, beta-cryptoxanthine, lycopene). RESULTS: Patients with chronic pancreatitis had significantly lower plasma concentrations of selenium, vitamin A, vitamin E, beta-carotene, xanthine, beta-cryptoxanthine, and lycopene compared with both control subjects and p atients with recurrent acute pancreatitis (p < 0.05). There were no signifi cant differences between the antioxidant profiles of patients with chronic pancreatitis due to alcohol excess and patients with idiopathic chronic pan creatitis, or between the antioxidant profiles of patients with recurrent a cute pancreatitis and control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with chronic pancreatitis had evidence of multiple an tioxidant deficiencies. The antioxidant profiles of patients with recurrent acute pancreatitis did not differ from those of control subjects, discount ing the hypothesis that recurrent acute pancreatitis represents an intermed iate state between normality and chronic pancreatitis. (Am J Gastroenterol 1999;94:2135-2140. (C) 1999 by Am. Coll. of Gastroenterology).