Experimental model of chronic pancreatitis, a review - Does it really exist?

Experimental model of pancreatitis is mandatory for elucidating the pathobiology of the disease and also to see the response of a novel treatment. In addition, the need for an animal model of chronic pancreatitis is further strengthened by the relative inaccessibility and paucity of the human pancreatitis tissue. Whereas various models of acute pancreatitis and also of exocrine pancreatic tumor have been described, chronic pancr-eatitis has not been consistently reproduced in experimental animals. Many researchers attempted to establish an experimental model of chronic pancreatitis either by partially obstructing the drainage of pancreatic secretion in dogs and cats or by feeding alcohol to dogs and rats with and without temporary occlusion of the biliopancreatic duct or by surgically inducing ischaemia in the pancreas of the dogs. But, none of these models is identical with human disease. A consistently reproducible model of human chronic pancr-eatitis probably does not exist. In this expanding era of molecular biology which promises us to enhance greatly our understanding of this disease, a right experimental model of chronic pancreatitis is still in progress.

疾患の実験モデルの作成は,その疾患の病因,病態の解明,さらに治療法の開発のために重要である｡筆者らの一人は厚生省難治性膵疾患調査研究班の班員として,慢性膵炎の病態の解明や治療法の開発に関する研究を行っており,その研究の一環として,慢性膵炎の実験モデルの作成を現在行っている｡そこで,これまで報告されている慢性膵炎の実験モデルについて概要を報告した｡種々の動物や方法でヒト慢性膵炎に病因,病態,組織像が類似するモデルの作成が試みられてきたが,そのすべてが合致するような慢性膵炎モデルは確 立されてはいない｡近年の分子生物学的研究の進歩は著しく,実験モデルへの応用が種々なされている現在,より簡便で再現性のある慢性膵炎モデルの作成が望まれるところである｡