Scoring of the histological specimens by morphological criteria
| Wild-type control | Wild-type pancreatitis | Transgenic control | Transgenic pancreatitis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‡In wild type (FVB−/−), sham injection was associated with completely normal pancreatic morphology whereas following induction of pancreatitis, three pancreata exhibited mainly neutrophilic infiltrates, two pancreata exhibited a mixed population of inflammatory cells (neutrophils, macrophages and lymphocytes) and one pancreas exhibited neutrophils and lymphocytes. Occasional apoptotic bodies were present in all six pancreata following induction of pancreatitis. In the sham injected transgenic (FVB+/−) mice, two pancreata exhibited mainly foci of lymphocytes, and two pancreata exhibited foci of lymphocytes and macrophages. Following induction of pancreatitis in these mice, five pancreata exhibited lymphocytes and neutrophils, one pancreas showed mainly lymphocytes and all six samples exhibited occasional apoptotic bodies. | ||||
| §One sample exhibited a small area of focal necrosis. | ||||
| Histological sections of each pancreata (n = 6 per group) were graded in blinded manner for oedema, presence of inflammatory cells, and acinar necrosis. Maximal severity for each parameter was assigned a value of 3, according to table 1. *p = <0.0095 wild-type pancreatitis vs wild-type control, using the score from the four samples that exhibited some oedema **p = 0.002, wild-type pancreatitis vs wild-type control †p = 0.015, wild-type pancreatitis vs wild-type control ††p = 0.026, transgenic pancreatitis vs transgenic control | ||||
| Oedema | 0 | 1.75* | 0 | 0 |
| Acinar necrosis | 0 | 1.7† | 0.3§ | 0 |
| Inflammatory cells‡ | 0 | 2.7** | 1.3 | 2.7†† |