COMPARISON OF PANCREATIC AND HEPATIC SECRETORY FUNCTION IN HAMSTERS FED LOW AND HIGH-FAT DIETS

As a first step towards testing the 'Manchester detoxification hypothesis' for the pathogenesis of chronic pancreatitis, we have investigated the effects of a corn oil-rich diet on pancreatic and biliary secretory function in Syrian golden hamsters. Hamsters aged 10 or 12 weeks were fed for 6 months on either a low or a high fat diet. At the end of this period, pancreatic secretory function was less in the animals fed from 10 weeks of age on the high fat diet. The output of a lipid peroxidation marker in bile (ultraviolet fluorescing products) in both high fat groups was more than double that in the low fat groups (P < 0.05), whereas that of a lipid isomerization marker (9,11' linoleic acid) was more than halved (P < 0.02). This was associated with increased hepatic deposition of lipofuscin. Collectively these changes in pancreatic and hepatic function resemble, but are not identical to, those in early human chronic pancreatitis.