Nutrition in the pathogenesis of alcoholic pancreatitis

The pathogenesis of chronic alcoholic pancreatitis is unclear. Some European studies have shown that alcoholics who develop pancreatitis consume a diet richer in protein and fat than normal controls. The infrequency of alcoholic cirrhosis in patients with alcoholic pancreatitis in these studies was explained by this enhanced nutritional intake protecting the liver but not the pancreas. In this study we evaluated by an oral recall method the nutritional intake of patients with alcoholic pancreatitis or alcoholic cirrhosis prior to the onset of symptomatology and compared the data with established norms. Our data did not confirm the European observation that pancreatitis patients consume amounts of protein and fat, more than the general population and more than alcoholics with cirrhosis. Furthermore, the combined incidence of cirrhosis and pancreatitis was not infrequent. Our observations do not disprove that a high fat and/or protein diet predispose to pancreatitis but suggest that such a diet is not a prerequisite for alcoholics to develop pancreatitis.