Early phase components of the kallikrein kinin system in hemorrhagic ascitic fluid and plasma in the rat with induced acute pancreatitis.

Acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis (AHP) was induced in 43 anesthetized rats by retrograde injection of sodium taurodeoxycholic acid into the common pancreatic biliary duct. At postinjection hours 1, 3, 6, 12, and 18, samples of plasma and hemorrhagic ascitic fluid (HAF) were obtained from rats in which AHP was induced and from rats that were sham operated. Early phase components of the kallikrein kinin system, including kallikrein-like (KK) activity and prekallikrein (PKK) and kallikrein inhibitor (KKI) concentrations, were measured in plasma and HAF samples. In the rats with induced AHP, PKK concentrations were decreased significantly in 18-hour plasma samples (P less than 0.05) and in all HAF samples (P less than 0.001) from 1 to 18 hours after induction of AHP. The KK activity was significantly increased (P less than 0.001) in the 6- and 12-hour plasma samples. In the 1-hour HAF samples, KK activity was increased greater than 10 times over that in the plasma pool of rats and remained increased for 18 hours. The KKI concentrations were markedly decreased in all HAF samples. In the sham-operated group, no significant change was observed. Histopathologic changes included edema, extensive hemorrhage, focal necrosis of many acinar cells around the head of the pancreas, slight inflammatory cell infiltration, vascular thrombosis, and partial lysis of pancreatic ducts. The extent of the changes of PKK, KK, and KKI values in HAF was greater than the extent of those in plasma. Increasing KK activity in plasma and HAF is indicative of bradykinin generation and the participation of this system in local and systemic pathologic change.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)