The relationship between serum triglyceride levels and acute pancreatitis in an animal model and a 14-year retrospective clinical study

Qiyue Zhang,Zhihai Liang,Zhenping Wei,Mengbin Qin,Guodu Tang,Lingyan Qin,Huali Huang,Yongfeng Tang,Mengtao Xu

doi:10.1186/s12944-019-1126-0

Abstract

ObjectivesThe aim of the current study was to evaluate influence of serum triglyceride levels on the course of acute pancreatitis (AP).MethodsRats models of hypertriglyceridemic were used in animal experiments. Following induction of acute pancreatitis, amylase, and pancreas histological scores were all compared. In addition, in a clinical study, clinical data were collected from 1681 AP patients admitted from 2003 to 2016 who were divided into 4 groups based on their serum triglyceride (TG) levels. The clinical features among these 4 groups were compared, and a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was also performed on TG values to estimate their relationship with severity.ResultsIn animal experiments, the hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis (HTGP) group had markedly higher serum amylase, and histological scores relative to the other animal groups. In the clinical study, we identified significant differences in gender, age, body mass index (BMI), cost, and incidence of partial complications among the 4 TG-based groups. Importantly, the TG levels on day 3–4 after admission could be used to accurately predict disease severity.ConclusionsHypertriglyceridemia (HTG) can aggravate pancreatic injury, and hypertriglyceridemia patients are more likely to suffer from severe pancreatic injury with a higher possibility of complications. In addition, triglyceride levels are correlated with the severity of AP positively.

Highlights

Acute pancreatitis (AP), an inflammatory illness of the pancreas, is the leading cause of hospital admission for gastrointestinal illnesses in many countries [1]
The mean serum TG levels in the hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis (HTGP) group were significantly elevated relative to the non-hypetriglyceridemic pancreatitis (NHTGP) group (P < 0.05) (Table 1)
Rats relative to NHTGP rats, whereas serum amylase levels were significantly higher in both AP groups relative to normal controls

Summary

Introduction

Acute pancreatitis (AP), an inflammatory illness of the pancreas, is the leading cause of hospital admission for gastrointestinal illnesses in many countries [1]. The percentage of cases in many studies have concentrated on the relationship between AP etiology and HTG, the exact relationship between disease severity and HTG has not been fully confirmed, and the role of HTG in modulating AP disease course remains controversial [6]. Disease complications, such as renal failure, shock, infection, and mortality have been found in a number of studies to be higher in the HTG group than in controls, indicating that HTG exacerbates severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), resulting in systemic complications and an elevated SAP mortality rate [7, 8].

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