[A technique for pancreatic juice collection in the rat]

Monitoring of exocrine graft function and pancreatic juice cytology have proved to be a reliable method of detection of pancreas allograft rejection. In order to confirm these clinical findings and to define further parameters, experimental work is still needed. The rat was chosen for these experiments and a technique of pancreatic juice procurement developed. In five animals a fully implantable closed reservoir-catheter system was used. For the prevention of bacterial contamination it was necessary to install a mixture of antibiotics and culture medium into the reservoir. Pancreatic juice was procured daily under general anaesthesia. During the observation time of 14 days no further complications were encountered with the exception of one catheter dislocation. The mean amount of juice of 1 cc per day has proved to be sufficient for various enzyme estimations as well as for juice cytology.