Possible beneficial effects of lithium chloride on cerulein-induced acute pancreatitis in mice

One of the most important and serious disorders of gastrointestinal tract is acute pancreatitis which in severe form is associated with high mortality rate particularly in the presence of systemic inflammatory response and multiple organ failure. Apoptosis linked to oxidative stress has been shown in the pancreas of the patients with acute pancreatitis. Lithium, one of the most effective drugs for the treatment of bipolar disorder, also has dramatic effects on preventing cell damage and apoptosis. Also lithium has shown anti-inflammatory effects in some animal studies. This study was designed to investigate the possible effect of lithium chloride in acute pancreatitis. Induction of acute pancreatitis was performed in male mice (25-30 g) by five intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of cerulein (50 μg/kg) with 1 h intervals. Lithium chloride (10, 20 and 30 mg/kg) was administered i.p. 15 min before the induction of pancreatitis. Six h after the last injection of cerulein, the animals were sacrificed and biochemical as well as histopathological analysis was performed. Pretreatment with 20 mg/kg i.p. of lithium chloride reduced significantly the inflammatory response in cerulein-induced acute pancreatitis by ameliorating pancreatic edema and leukocyte infiltration, attenuating amylase and lipase serum levels, and myeloperoxidase activity compared to control group (p<0.05). Two other administered doses namely 10 and 30 mg/kg were found ineffective. In this study our findings demonstrate that lithium can dose dependently exhibit protective effect against cerulein-induced acute pancreatitis.