A search for acute necrotic pancreatitis in early stages of alcoholic chronic pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis precedes chronic pancreatitis in the majority of patients: Results from the NAPS2 consortium

INTRODUCTION

The mechanistic definition of chronic pancreatitis (CP) identifies acute pancreatitis (AP) as a precursor stage. We hypothesized that clinical AP frequently precedes the diagnosis of CP and is associated with patient- and disease-related factors. We describe the prevalence, temporal relationship and associations of AP in a well-defined North American cohort.

METHODS

We evaluated data from 883 patients with CP prospectively enrolled in the North American Pancreatitis Studies across 27 US centers between 2000 and 2014. We determined how often patients had one or more episodes of AP and its occurrence in relationship to the diagnosis of CP. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine associations for prior AP.

RESULTS

There were 624/883 (70.7%) patients with prior AP, among whom 161 (25.8%) had AP within 2 years, 115 (18.4%) within 3-5 years, and 348 (55.8%) >5 years prior to CP diagnosis. Among 504 AP patients with available information, 436 (86.5%) had >1 episode. On multivariable analyses, factors associated with increased odds of having prior AP were a younger age at CP diagnosis, white race, abdominal pain, pseudocyst(s) and pancreatic duct dilatation/stricture, while factors associated with a lower odds of having prior AP were exocrine insufficiency and pancreatic atrophy. When compared with patients with 1 episode, those with >1 AP episode were diagnosed with CP an average of 5 years earlier.

CONCLUSIONS

Nearly three-quarters of patients were diagnosed with AP prior to CP diagnosis. Identifying which AP patients are at-risk for future progression to CP may provide opportunities for primary and secondary prevention.

Caerulein-induced pancreatitis augments the expression and phosphorylation of collapsin response mediator protein 4

BACKGROUND

Chronic pancreatitis is a significant risk factor for pancreatic cancer. Previously, we demonstrated that the pancreatic cancer cells show enhanced expression of collapsin response mediator protein 4 (CRMP4) that strongly correlates with severe venous invasion, liver metastasis, and poor prognosis. However, involvement of CRMP4 in acute or chronic pancreatitis remains unknown.

METHODS

Acute and chronic pancreatitis mice models were developed by periodic injection of caerulein. The expression levels of CRMP4 and its phosphorylation were examined.

RESULTS

Elevated CRMP4 levels were observed in the infiltrated lymphocytes as well as in the pancreas parenchyma of both acute and chronic pancreatitis. The expression pattern of phosphorylated CRMP4 was similar to that of CRMP4. Cdk5 partially co-localized with the phosphorylated CRMP4.

CONCLUSIONS

Pancreatitis induces CRMP4 expression in the pancreas parenchyma and in the infiltrated lymphocytes. Overlapping expression of CRMP4 and Cdk5 may suggest that the Cdk5 is at least, in part, responsible for the phosphorylation of CRMP4. The results suggest that CRMP4 is involved in the inflammatory response in pancreatitis. Understanding the mechanisms of CRMP4 would help us to develop novel therapeutic strategies against acute or chronic pancreatitis, and pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic hyperechogenicity on endoscopic ultrasound examination

There is an ongoing discussion on how to diagnose a hyperechogenic pancreas and what is the clinical significance of diffusely hyperechogenic pancreas. Computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are the more appropriate methods to diagnose pancreatic hyperechogenicity when compared with transcutaneous or endoscopic ultrasound examination. More importantly, pancreatic hyperechogenicity may not be a certain indicator of pancreatic fat infiltration. Even if it is true, we do not know the clinical significances of pancreatic fat accumulation. Some suggested that excess fat in the pancreas is associated with chronic pancreatitis. However, several histological studies on human alcoholic chronic pancreatitis did not prove the presence of fatty pancreas in such cases. Thus, except for aging, it is very rare to have truly steatotic pancreas in the absence of certain human diseases.

Chronic pancreatitis: potential future interventions

Chronic pancreatitis is a common disorder of which the underlying pathogenic mechanisms still are incompletely understood. In the last decade, increasing evidence has shown that activated pancreatic stellate cells play a key role in the fibrosis development associated with chronic pancreatitis as well as pancreatic cancer. During pancreatic injury or inflammation, quiescent stellate cells undergo a phenotypic transformation, characterized by smooth muscle alpha-actin expression and increased synthesis of extracellular matrix proteins. Hitherto, specific therapies to prevent or reverse pancreatic fibrosis are unavailable. This review addresses current insights into pathological mechanisms underlying chronic pancreatitis and their applicability as concerns the development of potential future therapeutic approaches.

Abnormal crosstalk between pancreatic acini and macrophages during the clearance of apoptotic cells in chronic pancreatitis

In chronic pancreatitis (CP), both the progressive loss of acinar parenchyma and aggressive fibro-inflammatory reactions ultimately lead to irreversible organ destruction. Dying cells are normally removed by macrophages and elimination is associated with anti-inflammatory cytokine switch. We investigated whether defective clearance of damaged acini by macrophages such as compromised phagocytosis or altered cytokine reaction occurs in CP and thus represents a causative link between acinar loss and fibro-inflammation. In a checkerboard-like co-culture system, we assessed normal and CP macrophages for their phagocytic and cytokine responses to dying pancreatic acinar cells of normal or CP origin by FACS, confocal microscopy, QRT-PCR, and ELISA. In CP, phagocytosis of apoptotic acini by macrophages was not impaired; however, the associated cytokine responses were gradually perturbed. Most interestingly, only normal acini suppressed TGFbeta1 expression and accumulation specifically in normal macrophage cultures, while CP acini lost this ability. Both types of apoptotic acini induced pro-inflammatory cytokine bursts of varying strength in both types of macrophages; however, the most significant difference (more than 50-fold higher expression of IL-1beta, IL-6, and IL-8) was evident between CP/CP and normal/normal combinations, indicating that acinar and macrophage alterations synergistically lead to the ultimate CP-specific bias. In combination with in situ data comparing circulating inflammatory cells to pancreatic resident ones, our results indicate that cytokine expression in inflammatory cells undergoes spatiotemporal modulation, most likely through a successive interplay of acinar, stromal, and circulating factors. Thus, clearance of injured pancreatic acini by macrophages is associated with a unique cytokine reaction which may constitute a basis for progression of SAPE (sentinel acute pancreatitis event) to the irreversible fibro-inflammation in CP.

Is acute recurrent pancreatitis a chronic disease?

Whether acute recurrent pancreatitis is a chronic disease is still debated and a consensus is not still reached as demonstrated by differences in the classification of acute recurrent pancreatitis. There is major evidence for considering alcoholic pancreatitis as a chronic disease ab initio while chronic pancreatitis lesions detectable in biliary acute recurrent pancreatitis (ARP) seem a casual association. Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene mutation, hereditary and obstructive pancreatitis seem an acute disease that progress to chronic pancreatitis, likely as a consequence of the activation and proliferation of pancreatic stellate cells that produce and activate collagen and therefore fibrosis. From the diagnostic point of view, in patients with acute recurrent pancreatitis Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) seems the more reliable technique for an accurate evaluation and follow-up of some ductal and parenchymal abnormalities suspected for early chronic pancreatitis.

Can pancreatic steatosis explain the finding of pancreatic hyperenzymemia in subjects with dyslipidemia?

OBJECTIVE

It has been proposed by some investigators that benign pancreatic hyperenzymemia could result from pancreatic steatosis that they believe would have been caused by dyslipidemia; their diagnosis of steatosis was based on the finding of a hyperechogenic pancreas at ultrasound. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of this proposed model.

METHODS

The study group was composed of 18 subjects with benign pancreatic hyperenzymemia, 12 men and 6 women; mean age, 55 years; range, 38 to 68 years. All 18 had dyslipidemia and 9 had hyperechogenic pancreas at ultrasound. In addition, 6 subjects with benign pancreatic hyperenzymemia but who did not have dyslipidemia or hyperechogenic pancreas and 10 healthy subjects with none of these conditions were also studied as controls. In each of these subjects, magnetic resonance imaging of the pancreas was performed to assess the presence of pancreatic steatosis.

RESULTS

Magnetic resonance imaging showed normal pancreas with no signs of fatty infiltration in all 18 subjects with dyslipidemia, including those with both dyslipidemia and hyperechogenic pancreas at ultrasound. A similar result was found in all control subjects.

CONCLUSION

The finding of a completely normal pancreas at magnetic resonance imaging does not support the proposed model in which pancreatic hyperenzymemia in subjects with dyslipidemia is attributed to pancreatic steatosis.