Histopathologic difference between chronic pancreatitis animal models and human chronic pancreatitis.
OBJECTIVE
There are many experimental models for chronic pancreatitis. However, it remains unclear which animal models of pancreatic fibrosis can be categorized as chronic pancreatitis models. We compared the histologic features of some animal models of pancreatic fibrosis/chronic pancreatitis and chronic pancreatitis in humans.


RESULTS
Human chronic pancreatitis due to chronic alcohol abuse and unknown etiology showed interlobular fibrosis and a cirrhosis-like appearance. Histopathologically, spontaneous pancreatitis models, WBN/Kob rats and OLETF rats, showed localized/nodular fibrotic lesions, which consisted of swollen, aggregated, atrophic islets of Langerhans; loss of the exocrine parenchyma and hemosiderin deposition that was seldom distributed in the interlobular area. On the other hand, fibrosis in the canine model, which was produced by combining alcohol administration with incomplete pancreatic duct obstruction, was characterized by interlobular fibrosis admixed with a cirrhosis-like appearance very similar to that in human chronic pancreatitis.


CONCLUSIONS
Most experimental models for chronic pancreatitis, except alcohol administration combined with other procedures such as incomplete pancreatic duct obstruction, are different from human chronic pancreatitis.
Suda
Koichi
K
Department of Pathology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. ksuda@med.juntendo.ac.jp
Takase
Masaru
M
Fukumura
Yuki
Y
Suzuki
Fujihiko
F
Jim
Atsuro
A
Kakinuma
Chihaya
C
Tanaka
Tsuneo
T
Matsugu
Yasuhiro
Y
Miyasaka
Kyoko
K
Funakoshi
Akihiro
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D020334:Rats, Inbred OLETF; D013045:Species Specificity