Knockout Egrª²1 ameliorates cearuleinª²induced pancreatitis in mice

    DUAN Youª²Cai, JIANG Bo, ZHI Faª²Cao, SONG Yuª²Gang, CHEN Xueª²Qing

    1Department of Internal Medicine, Second Hospital of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou 510317, China, 2Department of Gastroenterology, Nanfang Hospital, Guangzhou 510515, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To study the role of Egrª²1 in the initiation of acute pancreatitis. METHODS: Experimental pancreatitis was induced in the Egrª²1 knockout mice with highª²dose of cearulein. The pancreatitis indices such as water content of pancreas, serum amylase and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activities were measured. The histology of pancreas and lung was observed under microscopy. RESULTS: The water content of pancreata in Egrª²1 knockout mice was significantly reduced [(166.0¡À13.5)% vs (132.3¡À17.7)%, P<0.05]. No significant difference of MPO levels in pancreata and serum amylases was found between the wildtype and Egrª²1 knockout mice. However, the lung MPO levels in Egrª²1 knockout mice were significantly reduced compared with those in wildtype mice [(168.1 ¡À 41.7)% vs (274.0 ¡À 98.7% ), P<0.05]. In Egrª²1 knockout mice, the histological appearance in pancreas and lung improved, though some vacuoles in acinar cells and light edema in pancreas were observed in pancreas. CONCLUSION: The severity of pancreatitis and lung damage is ameliorated in Egrª²1 knockout mice stimulated by highª²dosage of cearulein, suggesting that Egrª²1 is one of the important factors in the initiation of acute pancreatitis. ......