title: Clonidine treatment of acute pancreatitis: report of five cases.
abstract: We report five consecutive cases of patients with acute pancreatitis resistant to conventional treatment who improved dramatically with clonidine. All patients showed greatly elevated noradrenaline, adrenaline and cortisol plasma levels (physiological indicators of stress) which fell abruptly upon initiation of clonidine therapy. The clonidine test performed in the patients showed a hyper-response in all, a reaction consistent with uncoping stress situation. Therefore, we postulate that stress might play a role in the pathogenesis of these patients pancreatic inflammatory disease.
authors.affiliation: Section of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, Central University of Venezuela.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lechín
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Van der Dijs
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lechín
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jara
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lechín
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cabrera
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rada
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Orozco
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jiménez
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Valderrama
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D003000:Clonidine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000097:blood; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D013006:Growth Hormone; D003000:Clonidine; D006854:Hydrocortisone; D009638:Norepinephrine; D004837:Epinephrine