Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0030305 (pancreatitis)
 16,014 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Acetaldehyde (AA), the first product of ethanol metabolism, has been suggested as an important mediator in alcoholic pancreatitis, but experimental evidence has not been convincing. Prior work using the isolated perfused canine pancreas preparation has suggested that toxic oxygen metabolites generated by xanthine oxidase (XO) may mediate the early injury in pancreatitis. Xanthine oxidase is capable of oxidizing AA, and during this oxidation free radicals are released. The hypothesis that acute alcoholic pancreatitis may be initiated by AA in the presence of active XO (converted from xanthine dehydrogenase [XD]) was tested in the authors' experimental preparation by converting XD to XO by a period of ischemia, and infusing AA. Control preparations remained normal throughout the 4-hour perfusion (weight gain, 7 +/- 4 g; amylase activity, 1162 +/- 202 U/dL). One hour of ischemia or infusion of AA at 25 mg/hr or at 50 mg/hr without ischemia did not induce changes in the preparation. Acetaldehyde at 250 mg/hr induced minimal edema and weight gain (16 +/- 4 g; p less than 0.05), but not significant hyperamylasemia. Changes also were not observed when 1-hour ischemia was followed by a bolus of ethanol (1.5 g) or sodium acetate (3.0 g), or by infusion of 25 mg/hr of AA. One hour of ischemia followed by infusion of AA at 50 mg/hr or at 250 mg/hr induced edema, hemorrhage, weight gain (22 +/- 7 g [p less than 0.05] and 26 +/- 17 g [p less than 0.05]) and hyperamylasemia (2249 +/- 1034 U/dL [p less than 0.05] and 2602 +/- 1412 U/dL [p less than 0.05]). Moreover infusion of AA at 250 mg/hr after 2 hours of ischemia potentiated the weight gain (62 +/- 20 g versus 30 +/- 14 g [p less than 0.05]), but not the hyperamylasemia (3404 +/- 589 U/dL versus 2862 +/- 1525 U/dL) as compared with 2 hours of ischemia alone. Pancreatitis induced by 1 hour of ischemia followed by AA at 50 mg/hr could be inhibited by pretreatment with the free radical scavengers superoxide dismutase and catalase and ameliorated with the XO inhibitor allopurinol. The authors conclude that AA, in the presence of active XO, can initiate acute pancreatitis in the isolated canine pancreas preparation and may be important in the initiation of acute alcoholic pancreatitis in man. Toxic oxygen metabolites appear to play an important intermediary role.
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PMID:The role of acetaldehyde in the pathogenesis of acute alcoholic pancreatitis. 172 Jun 11

Four models of acute pancreatitis have been previously developed that use the ex vivo perfused isolated canine pancreas preparation. The four models include the intraarterial infusion of oleic acid (FFA) that mimics hyperlipemic pancreatitis, partial obstruction of the pancreatic duct with secretin stimulation (POSS) that mimics gallstone pancreatitis, a 2-hour period of ischemia before perfusion (ISCH 2) that mimics shock pancreatitis, and the infusion of cerulein at supramaximal stimulatory doses (CER), which lacks an obvious clinical counterpart. In the FFA, POSS, and ISCH 2 pancreatitis, but not in the CER pancreatitis, toxic oxygen metabolites, generated by the enzyme xanthine oxidase (XO), have been shown to be important mediators in the early pathogenesis. Ordinarily XO primarily occurs as xanthine dehydrogenase (XD) but can be converted to XO, which is the form that generates toxic oxygen metabolites. This conversion of XD to XO may take place either reversibly by way of sulfhydryl group oxidation or irreversibly by means of proteolytic cleavage of XD. This study was undertaken to investigate the mechanism of conversion of XD to XO in the FFA-, POSS-, and ISCH 2-induced pancreatitis models. CER pancreatitis was studied for comparison. After 4 hours of perfusion, pancreatitis was manifest by edema, weight gain, and hyperamylasemia in all four models. Dithiothreitol, a sulfhydryl group protector, ameliorated the weight gain in the FFA (40 +/- 14 gm to 18 +/- 13 gm; p < 0.05), POSS (28 +/- 10 gm to 9 +/- 3 gm; p < 0.05), and ISCH 2 pancreatitis (30 +/- 13 gm to 15 +/- 3 gm; p < 0.05), and ameliorated the hyperamylasemia in the POSS pancreatitis (12,062 +/- 4304 units/dl to 5877 +/- 2659 units/dl; p < 0.05). The CER pancreatitis was not ameliorated with dithiothreitol. A serine protease inhibitor of low molecular weight, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, ameliorated only the CER pancreatitis (weight gain from 28 +/- 10 gm to 17 +/- 10 gm, p < 0.05; amylase activity from 38,116 +/- 6491 units/dl to 23,372 +/- 11,654 units/dl, p < 0.05), and not the FFA, POSS, or ISCH 2 pancreatitis. We conclude that in the three models of pancreatitis (FFA, POSS, and ISCH 2) that are mediated by toxic oxygen metabolites, XD is converted to XO reversibly by way of sulfhydryl group oxidation rather than irreversibly by way of proteolysis. In the CER pancreatitis, where XO does not play a role in the pathogenesis, proteolytic enzymes may be important mediators in the injury.
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PMID:The mechanism of conversion of xanthine dehydrogenase to xanthine oxidase in acute pancreatitis in the canine isolated pancreas preparation. 841 95