Neural Hypertrophy and Hyperplasia in a Case of Chronic Ovine Pancreatitis

Nerves can be severely reshaped in human pancreatic diseases such as chronic pancreatitis (CP) and pancreatic cancer, in which pancreatic nerves can undergo hypertrophy or hyperplasia. This neural plasticity is associated with neuropathic pain. Although there are several animal models of CP, pancreatic neuropathy is not well-characterized. Thus, the translational value of these in-vivo models cannot be entirely ascertained for the study of neural plasticity. We now describe spontaneous alterations characteristic of pancreatic neural plasticity in a lamb. Microscopic lesions of chronic sclerosing pancreatitis were associated with neuronal hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Although CP and pancreatic tumours are common in many animal species, to the authors' knowledge, spontaneous occurrence of associated pancreatic neural plasticity has not been reported in any non-human species. Sheep might be a suitable animal model for the study of this condition.