Morphometric study of the rat exocrine pancreas after diversion of bile and pancreatic juice from the intestine.

The effects of 6 h of diversion of bile and pancreatic juice from the intestine on the ultrastructure of rat pancreatic acinar cells were studied by morphometric procedures. After diversion the volume of zymogen granules decreased markedly, representing a reduction of 77%. The volume of autophagic vacuoles increased twofold after diversion. The volume of rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus was not different from that of control. It has been proved by electron microscopic morphometry that the degree of reduction of zymogen granules was similar to that after stimulation by exogenous cholecystokinin or introduction of trypsin inhibitor to the duodenum. This suggests that hypersecretion caused by diversion is due to failure of a negative feedback regulation normally induced by proteases found in pancreatic juice. An increased number of autophagic vacuoles suggests an increase of organelle turnover due to heightened secretory activity of acinar cells.