Hypertriglyceridemia and obesity exacerbate the course of SIRS induced by SAP in Rats

The aim of the present study was to explore the mechanism underlying how HTG (hypertriglyceridaemia) and obesity exacerbate the course of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) induced by severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) in rats. Seventy-two rats were fed a normal or high-fat diet to induce HTG and obesity, and SAP was induced by retrograde injection of 5% sodium taurocholate solution at a volume of 1 ml/kg into the biliopancreatic duct. The injury to the pancreas was assessed by macroscopic observation, pancreatic histological evaluation and serum levels of amylase and lipase. SIRS was estimated by measuring SIRS scores and interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) expression. The results showed that the SIRS scores and pancreatic histological scores increased significantly and the blood calcium level decreased significantly in the hypertriglyceridaemia SAP (HSAP) group compared with those of the SAP group. In addition, HTG and obesity significantly increased plasma levels of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF- and significantly downregulated the proinflammatory cytokine IL-10. Our findings showed that HSAP rats exhibited more severe pancreatic injury and more serious SIRS scores than the SAP rats did. The underlying mechanism may be that HTG and obesity intensify early-stage SIRS by regulating the levels of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines.