Severe Acute Pancreatitis-Associated Lung Injury: A Comprehensive Quadruple Analysis of Animal Models

Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is a common clinical acute abdominal disorder. One of the critical complications of SAP is acute lung injury (ALI), which is the leading cause of high mortality in SAP patients. Establishing an animal model is pivotal in understanding of SAP pathogenesis and treatment.

The 5% Sodium taurocholate (STC) solution was administered to induce severe acute pancreatitis-associated acute lung injury (SAP-ALI). Additionally, a Sham operation group (SO) and a Normal saline control group (NS) were included in the study. Nine time-point subgroups were established at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 72 h post-treatment. Lung injury was comprehensively assessed from four perspectives: physiological dysfunction, inflammatory response, alterations in vascular permeability, and tissue damage. Ultimately, the model was constructed according to the previously established methodology. High-resolution micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) for small animals was employed to evaluate the extent of lung injury.

The SAP-ALI animal model was effectively induced using a 5% sodium taurocholate solution, with the peak lung injury score observed at 24 h post-induction. Histological examination of the entire pancreas in the micro-CT group revealed more pronounced pancreatic injury in the pancreatic head region at the 24-h time point following model establishment. Upon horizontal comparison of the micro-CT images with the complete lung pathology images, a close correlation between the injury sites was observed.

At the 24-h time point in the SAP animal model, the lung injury manifestations and diverse indicators were notably robust. The application of micro-CT emerged as a pivotal non-invasive modality for diagnosing lung injury in SAP-ALI animal models.