RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: Acute pancreatitis is a severe debilitating disease with high morbidity and mortality. The severity of the disease is largely due to the actions of various inflammatory mediators. No specific therapy is indicated for AP and its treatment remains largely supportive. This study investigated the effect of oleuropein on serum inflammatory cytokines and distant organ injury in rats with acute pancreatitis induced by bile-pancreatic duct obstruction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty adult male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to 3 groups of 10 rats each: group I: sham, group II: pancreatitis and group III: pancreatitis+oleuropein. Rats in Group III received oleuropein 20 mg/kg intragastrically during 10 days before surgery. The rats were sacrificed at 24 h after surgery and venous blood, pancreatic and lung tissue samples were obtained for analysis. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was found between groups regarding serum amylase, LDH, lipase, pancreatic amylase, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α values with a Kruskal-Wallis test (p<0.05). No statistically significant difference was found between Group II and III regarding pairwise comparison of amylase, LDH, lipase, pancreatic amylase, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α value by using pairwise comparisons with a Mann-Whitney U test (p>0.01). A statistically significant difference between groups was found regarding edema, inflammation, hemorrhage and acinar cell necrosis in histopathological examination of the pancreas (p<0.05). No difference was found between group II and III (p>0.01). A difference was found between the groups in terms of lung tissue edema (p<0.05) but no difference was found regarding hemorrhage and inflammation (p>0.05). No statistically significant difference was found between group II and III with pairwise comparison (p>0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The experimental model used in this study showed to be appropriate for creation of acute pancreatitis. It was concluded that oleuropein as a prophylactic treatment has no protective effect on serum proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines as well as pancreatic tissue.