[Acute pancreatitis and hypertriglyceridemia]

The etiology and pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis are unknown in the majority of patients. However, it is well known that there are several relevant clinical conditions associated to acute pancreatitis such as, gallstone disease, alcoholism and hypertriglyceridemia. The possible pathogenic relationships between acute pancreatitis and hypertriglyceridemia are discussed in this article. It has recently been shown that a significant proportion of patients with a history of acute pancreatitis have an abnormal clearance of exogenous triglycerides, indicating the presence of a preexistent metabolic abnormality in this population. This observation supports the hypothesis of a possible genetic heterogeneity related to either an abnormal apoprotein profile of chylomicrons, or hepatic receptor mechanism of chylomicron remnants uptake in the liver. If this hypothesis proves to be correct, then a genetic marker may be available to identify the subjects at high risk for acute pancreatitis.