The effects of green tea catechins (Polyphenon) on DL-ethionine-induced acute pancreatitis.

The effects of green tea catechins (Polyphenon) on DL-ethionine-induced acute pancreatitis in rats were examined. The acute pancreatitis induced in this study was characterized by moderate inter- and intrastitial edema and patchy acinar cell necrosis. In rats induced with acute pancreatitis by an intraperitoneal injection of DL-ethionine, the wet weight of the pancreas (0.47 +/- 0.059 g/100 g body weight; p < 0.05), the serum amylase (10,432 +/- 996 IU/L; p < 0.001), and the tissue concentration of lipid peroxides (19.5 +/- 1.78 nmol/mg tissue DNA; p < 0.001) were significantly increased compared with values obtained in control rats (0.39 +/- 0.037 g/100 g body weight, 5,639 +/- 1,568 IU/L, and 10.7 +/- 1.04 nmol/mg tissue DNA, respectively) injected with isotonic saline. In contrast, in rats injected with DL-ethionine and supplied with a green tea catechin solution as a beverage instead of water during the experimental period, the tissue of pancreas was almost-correct, and the wet weight of the pancreas (0.39 +/- 0.054 g/100 g body weight; p < 0.05), the serum amylase (5,716 +/- 708 IU/L; p < 0.001), and the concentration of lipid peroxides in tissue (11.5 +/- 2.15 nmol/mg tissue DNA; p < 0.001) were significantly decreased compared with values obtained in rats injected with DL-ethionine and supplied with water as a beverage. These data suggest that green tea catechins may have a protective effect on the pathogenesis of experimental acute pancreatitis.