Chronic stress sensitizes rats to pancreatitis induced by cerulein:Role of TNF-α

AIM:To investigate chronic stress as a susceptibility factor for developing pancreatitis,as well as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) as a putative sensitizer.METHODS:Rat pancreatic acini were used to analyze the influence of TNF-α on submaximal (50 pmol/L) cholecystokinin (CCK) stimulation.Chronic restraint (4 h every day for 21 d) was used to evaluate the effects of submaximal (0.2 μg/kg per hour) cerulein stimulation on chronically stressed rats.RESULTS:In vitro exposure of pancreatic acini toTNF-α disorga...