PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - H Araki AU - T Nishihara AU - M Matsuda AU - A Fukuhara AU - S Kihara AU - T Funahashi AU - T R Kataoka AU - Y Kamada AU - T Kiyohara AU - S Tamura AU - N Hayashi AU - I Shimomura TI - Adiponectin plays a protective role in caerulein-induced acute pancreatitis in mice fed a high-fat diet AID - 10.1136/gut.2007.135665 DP - 2008 Oct 01 TA - Gut PG - 1431--1440 VI - 57 IP - 10 4099 - http://gut.bmj.com/content/57/10/1431.short 4100 - http://gut.bmj.com/content/57/10/1431.full SO - Gut2008 Oct 01; 57 AB - Background: Obesity is a risk factor for acute pancreatitis (AP), but the molecular mechanism remains unclear. Adiponectin, an adipose tissue-derived secretory factor, has anti-inflammatory properties in addition to various biological functions, and its plasma concentrations are reduced in obese subjects. However, the role of adiponectin in AP has not been investigated.Aim: To determine the effects of adiponectin on AP.Methods: We investigated the effects of adiponectin on experimental AP by using adiponectin-knockout (APN-KO) mice and adenovirus-mediated adiponectin over-expression. AP was induced by 10 hourly intraperitoneal injections of low-dose caerulein (10 μg/kg) after 2 week feeding of normal chow or a high-fat diet (HFD) in wild-type (WT) and APN-KO mice. We evaluated the severity of AP biochemically and morphologically.Results: Low-dose caerulein treatment did not induce pancreatic damage in either WT or APN-KO mice under normal chow feeding. APN-KO mice, but not WT mice, fed a HFD and then treated with caerulein developed pancreatic damage and inflammation, accompanied by increased macrophage/neutrophil infiltration and upregulation of pro-inflammatory mediators such as tumour necrosis factor α in the pancreas. Adenovirus-mediated over-expression of adiponectin attenuated the severity of HFD/caerulein-induced AP in APN-KO mice.Conclusions: Adiponectin plays a protective role in caerulein-induced AP in HFD-fed mice.