Experimental pancreatitis in the rat. The role of phospholipase A in sodium taurocholate-induced acute haemorrhagic pancreatitis.

Acute haemorrhagic pancreatitis was induced in rats by injecting 0.2 ml of 5% (92.9 mmol/l) aqueous solution of sodium taurocholate into the common biliopancreatic duct. Lysolecithin was separated from the pancreatic homogenate by thin-layer chromatography and quantified by phosphorus determination. The lysolecithin content increased rapidly, remained elevated for 12 h, and returned to the control level 24 h after the injection. Treatment with a trypsin inhibitor, aprotinin (Trasylol), given intraperitoneally and intravenously during 2 h postoperatively (800,000 units/kg of body weight) had no beneficial effects compared with physiological saline treatment. When the animals were treated similarly with a phospholipase A inhibitor, procaine hydrochloride (40 mg/kg of body weight), 45% of them survived 72 h (p less than 0.01). It was concluded that phospholipase A, which converts lecithin into lysolecithin, plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis.