Behavior of plasma phospholipase A2 activity in experimental acute pancreatitis according to diet

The effects of standard, fat-rich, protein-rich, and carbohydrate-rich diets combined with either long-term ethanol ingestion or tap water ingestion on the behavior of plasma phospholipase A2 activity during experimental acute pancreatitis were studied in rats. Phospholipase A2 activity was compared with amylase activity in the plasma. Three hundred eighty-four male Wistar rats were randomized into eight groups receiving different diets with either 15 percent (volume for volume) ethanol or tap water for 12 weeks. Thereafter, all groups were subdivided into control (intact) and pancreatitis subgroups. Pancreatitis was induced by retrograde bile infusion into the pancreatic ducts. Sampling was performed 24 hours after induction in the surviving rats. Ethanol ingestion alone and in combination with the fat-rich diet increased the mortality rate (p less than 0.05), whereas the lowest mortality rate was observed in the carbohydrate-rich diet and water and the carbohydrate-rich diet and ethanol groups. Plasma phospholipase A2 activity increased in most of the groups, but it correlated with the mortality rate in the standard diet group only. Plasma amylase activity increased significantly in all groups, but did not correlate with mortality rate. Plasma phospholipase A2 activity seems to be dependent on diet in experimental acute pancreatitis in rats. Plasma amylase activity may be less affected by the dietary composition, but the lack of a correlation with mortality makes it unreliable as a parameter of severity in experimental acute pancreatitis.