Elevated levels of free fatty acids in lung injury associated with acute pancreatitis in rats

Pulmonary injury is associated with acute pancreatitis (AP) in up to 70% of the cases, and may even progress to the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Some authors discuss the socalled “free fatty acids” (FFA) to play a certain role in the pathogenesis of AP and in the subsequent systemic complications. We therefore tried to find out what correlations may exist between FFA, pancreatitis, and lung injury in a rat model. AP was induced by infusing 2 different concentrations of glycodeoxycholic acid (GDOC 17 mmol and 34 mmol) into the cannulated pancreatic duct. At set times (2, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours), the animals were sacrificed, and blood was collected for determining FFA, amylase and pO2.