Secretory pattern and pathological study of the pancreas of steroid-treated rats

Rat were given 2.5 mg/kg/day prednisolone in drinking water during 1.5 to 12.5 months and an equal group of matched controls received only water. A pathological study of the pancreas and a physiological study of exocrine pancreatic secretion have been done. The most significant pathological effects at 1.5-12.5 months of steroids are dilatation of acini, flattening of duct epithelium, and the presence of protein plugs in the ducts. The most significant functional modifications at 9-11 months of treatment are increased concentrations and output of proteins both in basal and stimulated pancreatic secretion of steroid-treated rats. This is very similar to the results observed by our group in alcohol-induced pancreatitis. It is assumed that the hyperconcentration could be at least partly responsible for precipitation of proteins and the precipitate formation for the lesions. For the large group of acute or chronic pancreatic lesions characterized by the formation of protein plugs in the ducts, the term catarrhal pancreatitis is proposed.