Inflammatory mediators and microcirculatory disturbance in acute pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory mediators are not only initiation factors of acute pancreatitis (AP) but also key factors causing pancreatic hemorrhage and necrosis, which damage important organs such as the heart, brain, liver, kidney and lung. Microcirculatory disturbance in AP has attracted widespread attention. In order to provide a theoretical basis for clinical therapy of AP, it is very important to explore the effect of inflammatory mediators on microcirculatory disturbance in this disease. DATA SOURCES: In this review, the impact of inflammatory mediators on microcirculatory disturbance in AP was reviewed according to the literature, especially the articles indexed in PubMed and books published in China and reports from websites.
RESULTS: At present, inflammatory mediation and microcirculatory disturbance are the two major hypotheses to explain the development of AP. Although experimental studies have shown that inflammatory mediators induce or aggravate microcirculatory disturbance, the clinical application of these findings is still difficult because the inflammatory mediators are diverse and their research is not comprehensive and thorough.
CONCLUSION: It is very important to explore the influence of inflammatory mediators on microcirculatory disturbance in AP.