Concentration of tissue angiotensin II increases with severity of experimental pancreatitis

Abstract

Necrotizing pancreatitis is a serious condition that is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Although vasospasm is reportedly involved in necrotizing pancreatitis, the underlying mechanism is not completely clear. In addition, the local renin-angiotensin system has been hypothesized to be involved in the progression of pancreatitis and trypsin has been shown to generate angiotensin II under weakly acidic conditions. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have reported elevated angiotensin II levels in tissue with pancreatitis. In the present study, the concentration of pancreatic angiotensin II in rats with experimentally induced acute pancreatitis was measured. Acute pancreatitis was induced by retrograde injection of 6% sodium taurocholate into the biliopancreatic duct. Control rats were sacrificed without injection into the biliopancreatic duct. The concentration of tissue angiotensin II was measured using the florisil method. Angiotensin II concentration in tissues with acute pancreatitis measured at 3, 6, 12 and 24 h following taurocholate injection were significantly higher than that of normal pancreatic tissue. In addition, the concentration of angiotensin II increased in a time-dependent manner. The results demonstrated that the angiotensin II generating system is involved in the transition from edematous to necrotizing pancreatitis in experimental animals. We hypothesize that locally formed angiotensin II affects the microenvironment in pancreatitis.