The Potential Ability of Betulinic Acid to Prevent Experimentally Induced Acute Pancreatitis in Rats

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a serious pancreatic inflammatory disease that results in pancreatic enzyme activation and autodegradation. Betulinic acid (BA), a pentacyclic triterpene of natural origin that was isolated from several plants, has anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and antioxidant effects that can help with AP. With this study, we aimed to investigate the potential positive effects of BA on l-arginine-induced AP. A total of 24 male rats were divided into four groups (control, BA, AP and BA + AP). Animals in the BA group were given BA 50 mg/kg/day for 7 days. AP was induced by administering two doses of 250-mg/100-g l-arginine to animals in the AP group. The animals in the BA + AP group were administered 50-mg/kg/day BA (gavage) for 7 days and two doses of 250-mg/100-g l-arginine on the seventh day. BA pretreatment inhibited the increased lipase activity caused by AP and showed protective activity against oxidative damage to pancreatic tissue. It decreased the severity of inflammation by suppressing the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines while increasing the level of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. It showed a protective effect on pancreatic tissue by inhibiting tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α) and Bax expression. The findings of the study show that BA exhibits multifaceted protective activity in experimental AP induced with l-arginine.