Morphological and biochemical characterization of pancreatic acinar cells from guinea pig

For elucidation of pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis an evaluation of the "intactness of cellular metabolism" of the acinar cells is an important question. To this end single acinar cells were isolated from guinea pig pancreata and studied at morphological and biochemical levels. The presented procedure generally results in suspensions with more than 85 percent intact exocrine cells which maintain their typical arrangement of the zymogen granules in the apical region during isolation procedure. The cellular content of amylase, lipase, and ALAT was determined. The measurement of parameters of cellular energy metabolism was regarded as essential for determination of functional intactness of the pancreocytes. The oxygraphically measured span between unstimulated respiration and that after maximal stimulation by uncoupling was used to characterize the load capacity of cellular energy metabolism.