The role of serum nesfatin-1 in a rat model of acute pancreatitis.

Background. Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a disease that can still be fatal despite rapid advances in medicine. The relationship between serum nesfatin-1 levels and AP is still to be fully resolved. Objectives. To investigate the utility of serum nesfatin-1 levels in the diagnosis of AP. Materials and methods. Twenty-four male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into control, mild pancreatitis and severe pancreatitis groups (n = 8/group). Acute pancreatitis was induced by cerulein injection and the control group received saline injections. Then, the serum nesfatin-1, amylase, lipase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were determined. A pathologist blinded to the study scored the severity of pancreatitis. Results. There was a considerable decrease in serum nesfatin-1 levels in parallel to the severity of pancreatitis, though there was no statistically significant relationship observed between pancreatitis and nesfatin-1. In addition, there was no significant difference in AST or ALT levels among the groups. However, a strong positive correlation between amylase and lipase levels was observed (p < 0.05). The severe pancreatitis group (group 3) had a higher lipase level and pathology score than mild pancreatitis group (group 2), and this difference was statistically significant. Conclusions. Serum nesfatin-1 may be used as a diagnostic and severity marker in pancreatitis in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]