[Growth factor a/b-FGF and PDGF have no effect on development of inflammatory tumor in chronic pancreatitis]

Extensive fibrosis combined with the development of pseudocysts, calcifications and concomittant loss of acinar cells are the characteristic features in the pathogenesis of chronic pancreatitis. In some patients an inflammatory mass is generated which is most frequently located in the pancreatic head. The inflammatory pancreatic head tumor has been postulated to be the pace maker of the course of the disease. Over expression of growth factors (GF) has been discussed to be the molecular basis of focal development of fibrosis. Aim of this study was to correlate the expression of GF-m-RNA (acidic und basic fibroblast growth factor: a/b FGF; plateled derived growth factor: PDGF-A/B) in pancreatic specimens from patients with chronic pancreatitis taken from different parts of the pancreatic gland to the generation of an inflammatory mass in the pancreatic head. Using quantitative PCR, northern blotting and in-situ-hybridisation m-RNA expression of a/b FGF and PDGF-A/B was nearly identical in the pancreatic head, corpus and tail. Furthermore the expression of these GF did not correlate to the development of an inflammatory mass in the pancreatic head. From the results of this study a causal relation between expression of these GF and the development of an inflammatory mass in the pancreatic head could not be confirmed.