The effect of experimental pancreatitis and diabetes on the microvasculature of the rat pancreas.

Experimental diabetes was produced in 59 rats by intravenous injection of streptozotocin, and the rats were studied from 9 days to 4 months later. Experimental pancreatitis was produced in 28 rats by injecting sodium taurocholate, 3% or 6% solution in saline, into the pancreatic duct. These rats were studied with microangiography from 2 h to 4 days later. Experimental diabetes caused atrophy of the islets of Langerhans but did not cause any changes in the vessels of the exocrine pancreas, liver, or kidney up to 4 months. Capillary filling of the young, long-term diabetic rats was poor in all the examined organs, and the muscle arterioles showed variation of caliber. A 3% sodium taurocholate solution produced mild pancreatitis and little or no changes in the vasculature, whereas a 6% solution caused severe hemorrhagic pancreatitis with local extravasations and poor capillary filling. It is concluded that diagnostically useful vascular changes appear in the pancreas only if severe pancreatitis is present.