Effective intraperitoneal antiprotease therapy for taurocholate-induced pancreatitis in rats

In canine pancreatitis, irreversible hypotension and death follow saturation of the antiprotease molecules in peritoneal exudate by activated proteolytic enzymes which are released from the pancreas. This study has examined, in rats with taurocholate-induced pancreatitis, the efficacy of removal of the peritoneal exudate by aspiration and a single lavage, followed by instillation of an exogenous antiprotease solution. Instillation of human fresh frozen plasma, containing alpha 2-macroglobulin and alpha 1-antiprotease, was associated with the longest median survival. Aprotinin, although possessing a much greater trypsin inhibitory capacity, just failed to significantly improve the median survival time compared with the control group. Intraperitoneal antiprotease therapy is simple to perform, has a beneficial effect on survival time in this model and merits investigation in man.