Acid phosphatase activity in different organs as a marker of acute pancreatitis

The aim of the experiment was to establish and quantify the changes in the activity of acid phosphatase in the pancreas, liver, spleen and kidneys during the course of experimental pancreatitis. The experiment was carried out on 65 male rats of Wistar strain, whose weight varied from 250 to 350 g. The animals were standard fed. They drank only water 24 hours before operation. The rats were randomly divided into three groups: A--intact animals group which were not operated and were used to mark initial biochemical parameters (15 rats), B--the experimental group of animals which were injected by retrograde way with sodium taurocholate into the common bile-pancreatic duct to induce acute necrotic pancreatitis (50 rats). After laparotomy an injection needle was inserted into the common bile-pancreatic duct via the proximal part of the duodenum (Aho's method). After 2, 6, 12, 24, 48 hours rats were anaesthetised again, and thoracotomy was performed by taking blood for amylase determination from the left ventricle of the heart. Then the animals were given an overdose of ketamine, and the organs were removed during laparotomy and frozen at the temp. of -20 degrees C. Alpha-amylase activity in the blood serum was determined by the enzymatic method. Acid phosphatase activity was assayed by spectrophotometric methods using a substrate which releases 4-methyloumbeliferol reacting with the enzyme. The authors concluded that the activity of membranous fraction of acid phosphatase changed non-specifically over the course of experimentally induced acute pancreatitis in rats, but statistically significant difference was found in the enzyme's activity during different periods of pancreatitis only in the pancreas and in the liver.