The protective effects of Lipoxin A4 during the early phase of severe acute pancreatitis in rats

Objective. Our aim was to investigate the protective effects of a Lipoxin A(4) analogue (LXA(4)) in the early phase of acute pancreatitis in rats. Materials and methods. Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) was induced by injection of 5% sodium taurocholate into the pancreatic duct. Rats with SAP were treated with LXA(4) (0.1 mg/kg), 10 min after the 5% sodium taurocholate injection, after which LXA(4) was administrated every 8 hours, three times (LXA(4) group). The sham group was only given the vehicle after operation. Plasma amylase activity, serum levels of interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were measured at 4, 12, and 24 h after induction of SAP. The pancreatic index and histopathologic observations were evaluated and the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and NF-kappa B p65 in the pancreas, and the expression of ICAM-1 in the lungs were detected by immunohistochemistry. Results. LXA(4) treated rats had lower serum levels of TNF-alpha, IL-1, and IL-6 at all time points measured (p < 0.05), but significantly differed in plasma amylase activity only at 24 h as compared with the SAP group. The pancreatic index and the scores of pancreatitic histopathologic evaluations were lower in the LXA(4) group as compared to the SAP group. Immunohistochemistry showed that LXA(4) attenuated the expression of ICAM-1 and NF-kappa B p65 in the pancreas, as well as the expression of ICAM-1 in the lungs in animals with pancreatitis (p < 0.05). Conclusions. We demonstrate that LXA(4) has protective effects in experimental SAP, which may be achieved by inhibiting the NF-kappa B signalling pathway, thereby reducing the production of proinflammatory cytokines.