Inhibition of cathepsin B protects pancreatic acinar cells against apoptosis in early pancreatic trauma in rats

Objectives:To observe the protective effect of cathepsin B inhibition against apoptosis of acinar cells in the early management of pancreatic contusion and laceration in rats,which would provide evidence of a potential early therapeutic for pancreatic contusion and laceration.Methods:Twenty-four rats were assigned to 2 groups:1)Model(n=12)with an induced pancreatic injury of severity I-II and 2)CA074-V(n=12):an induced pancreatic injury,severity I-II treated with the cathepsin B inhibitor CA074-me(0.01mg/g)by intravenous administration through the caudal vein at 5minutes post model establishment.The mice in these two groups were further randomly divided into 4 subgroups containing 3 rats each that were sacrificed for quantitation of apoptosis,immunohistochemistry of cathepsin B,and serum amylase and lipase measurements at different time points after model establishment(0,3,6,and 12hours).Results:The percentage of apoptotic pancreatic acinar cells collected from the injured tissues were much lower in the CA074-V group than the Model group at 3hours[9.25±3.94%vs.64.76±26.47%,P<0.10]and 6hours[14.71±8.22%vs.66.60±13.54%,P<0.10]post model establishment.The percentage of cathepsin B-positive pancreatic acinar cells were much lower in the CA074-V group than in the Model group at 3hours[31.07±12.02%vs.69.16±5.71%,P<0.10],6hours[24.84±0.93%vs.47.06±0.91%,P<0.10],and 12hours[28.33±9.14%vs.52.72±1.25%,P<0.10]post model establishment.Conclusions:Early cathepsin B inhibition effectively blocked acinar cell apoptosis in an experimental rat model of pancreatic contusion and laceration.