An investigation of the pancreatic ductal mucosa as a protective barrier in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis

This thesis reports on an Investigation into the Pancreatic Duct of the Cat, which was selected because of its anatomical similarity to the human duct. The experiments directed attention to the ducts ability to resist toxic substances, such as those that may be present in a diseased pancreatico-biliary system. Experiments were conducted on eighty nine healthy cats, which were standardised nutritionally. The experiments showed that these so-called toxic agents, under the conditions reported in this thesis, caused no permanent ill-effect, but that incubated infected bile proved to have potent mucolytic and cytotoxic effect. AIso, it became clear that mechanical factors, such as quantity of infusate, pressure, etc. were able to alter the results and it is possible that this variation may effect already reported experimental findings. Finally, it was concluded that a low grade infection in the biliary tree can in a patho physiological system, initiate pancreatic inflammatory disease