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Chronic pancreatitis affects many individuals around the world, and the study of the underlying mechanisms leading to better treatment possibilities are important tasks. Therefore, animal models are needed to illustrate the basic study of pancreatitis. Recently, animal models of acute and chronic pancreatitis have been thoroughly reviewed, but few reviews address the important aspect on the translation of animal studies to human studies. It is well known that pancreatitis is associated with epigastric pain, but the understanding regarding to mechanisms and appropriate treatment of this pain is still unclear. Using animal models to study pancreatitis associated visceral pain is difficult, however, these types of models are a unique way to reveal the mechanisms behind pancreatitis associated visceral pain. In this review, the animal models of acute, chronic and un-common pancreatitis are briefly outlined and animal models related to pancreatitis associated visceral pain are also addressed.

Aim: To study morphologic and biomechanical changes of oesophagus in diabetes rats., Methods: Diabetes was induced by a single injection of streptozotocin (STZ). The type of diabetes mellitus induced by parenteral STZ administration in rats was insulin-dependent (type I). The samples were excised and studied in vitro using a self-developed biomaterial test machine., Results: The body mass was decreased after 4 d with STZ treatment. The length of esophagus shortened after 4, 7, 14 d. The opening angle increased after 14 d. The shear, longitudinal and circumferential stiffness were obviously raised after 28 d of STZ treatment., Conclusion: The changes of passive biomechanical properties reflect intra-structural alteration of tissue to a certain extent. This alteration will lead to some dysfunction of movement. For example, tension of esophageal wall will change due to some obstructive disease., (Copyright 2004 The WJG Press ISSN)

Aim: To propose a simple and effective method suitable for analyzing the angle and distribution of 2-dimensional collagen fiber in larger sample of small intestine and to investigate the relationship between the angles of collagen fiber and the pressure it undergoes., Methods: A kind of 2-dimensional visible quantitative analyzing technique was described. Digital image-processing method was utilized to determine the angle of collagen fiber in parenchyma according to the changes of area analyzed and further to investigate quantitatively the distribution of collagen fiber. A series of intestinal slice's images preprocessed by polarized light were obtained with electron microscope, and they were processed to unify each pixel. The approximate angles between collagen fibers were obtained via analyzing the images and their corresponding polarized light. The relationship between the angles of collagen fiber and the pressure it undergoes were statistically summarized., Results: The angle of collagen fiber in intestinal tissue was obtained with the quantitative analyzing method of calculating the ratio of different pixels. For the same slice, with polarized light angle's variation, the corresponding ratio of different pixels was also changed; for slices under different pressures, the biggest ratio of collagen fiber area was changed either., Conclusion: This study suggests that the application of stress on the intestinal tissue will change the angle and content of collagen fiber. The method of calculating ratios of different pixel values to estimate collagen fiber angle was practical and reliable. The quantitative analysis used in the present study allows a larger area of soft tissue to be analyzed with relatively low cost and simple equipment.