pancreatitis

Examples of pancreatitis in the following topics:

• Pancreatic Juice

  • Pancreatic juice is a liquid secreted by the pancreas that contains a variety of enzymes, including trypsinogen, chymotrypsinogen, elastase, carboxypeptidase, pancreatic lipase, nucleases, and amylase.
  • Pancreatic juice secretion is regulated by the hormones secretin and cholecystokinin.
  • A variety of factors cause a high pressure within pancreatic ducts.
  • Pancreatic duct rupture and pancreatic juice leakage cause pancreatic self-digestion.
  • A schematic diagram that shows pancreatic acini and the ducts where fluid is created and released.

• Pancreatitis

  • Pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas, occurs when the pancreatic enzymes that digest food are activated inside the pancreas.
  • Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas.
  • Late complications include recurrent pancreatitis and the development of pancreatic pseudocyst, which are collections of pancreatic secretions that have been walled off by scar tissue.
  • Prognosis is generally good for mild pancreatitis.
  • A blockage in this duct can cause pancreatitis.

• Pancreatic Cancer

  • Symptoms of pancreatic cancer metastasis.
  • The risk of developing pancreatic cancer increases with age.
  • The risk of pancreatic cancer in individuals with familial pancreatitis is particularly high.
  • Although drinking alcohol excessively is a major cause of chronic pancreatitis, which in turn predisposes to pancreatic cancer, chronic pancreatitis associated with alcohol consumption is less frequently a precursor for pancreatic cancer than other types of chronic pancreatitis.
  • These micrographs show the progression of changes in the pancreas due to cancer, from normal pancreas, to pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (precursors to pancreatic cancer), and finally pancreatic cancer.

• Overview of Pancreatic Islets

  • Pancreatic islets, also called the islets of Langerhans, are regions of the pancreas that contain its hormone-producing endocrine cells.
  • The pancreatic islets are small islands of cells that produce hormones that regulate blood glucose levels.
  • Hormones produced in the pancreatic islets are secreted directly into the blood flow by five different types of cells.
  • Gamma cells that produce pancreatic polypeptide and make up 3–5% of the total islet cells.
  • Pancreatic polypeptide regulates both the endocrine and exocrine pancreatic secretions.

• Types of Cells in the Pancreas

  • It is an endocrine gland that produces several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, somatostatin, and pancreatic polypeptide.
  • The pancreatic islets are small islands of cells that produce hormones that regulate blood glucose levels.
  • Hormones produced in the pancreatic islets are secreted directly into the blood flow by five different types of cells.
  • Gamma cells that produce pancreatic polypeptide, and make up 3–5% of the total islet cells.
  • Pancreatic polypeptide regulates both the endocrine and exocrine pancreatic secretions.

• Anatomy of the Pancreas

  • Pancreatic tissue is present in all vertebrate species, but its precise form and arrangement varies widely.
  • Even when a single pancreas is present, two or three pancreatic ducts may persist, each draining separately into the duodenum (or an equivalent part of the foregut).
  • In teleosts, and a few other species (such as rabbits), there is no discrete pancreas at all, with pancreatic tissue being distributed diffusely across the mesentery and even within other nearby organs, such as the liver or spleen.
  • The pancreatic branches of the splenic artery also supply the neck, body, and tail of the pancreas.
  • 1: Head of pancreas 2: Uncinate process of pancreas 3: Pancreatic notch 4: Body of the pancreas 5: Anterior surface of the pancreas 6: Inferior surface of the pancreas 7: Superior margin of the pancreas 8: Anterior margin of the pancreas 9: Inferior margin of the pancreas 10: Omental tuber 11: Tail of the pancreas 12: Duodenum.

• Pancreas

  • As an endocrine gland, the pancreas produces several important hormones that include insulin, glucagon, somatostatin, and pancreatic polypeptide.
  • As a digestive organ, the pancreas secretes pancreatic juice that contains digestive enzymes that assist the absorption of nutrients and digestion in the small intestine.
  • The pancreas is composed of pancreatic exocrine cells, whose ducts are arranged in clusters called acini.
  • The cells are filled with secretory granules containing the inactivated digestive enzymes, mainly trypsinogen, chymotrypsinogen, pancreatic lipase, and amylase, that are secreted into the lumen of the acini.
  • Pancreatic secretions accumulate in small ducts that drain to the main pancreatic duct that drains directly into the duodenum.

• Digestive Processes of the Small Intestine

  • Most of the digestive enzymes in the small intestine are secreted by the pancreas and enter the small intestine via the pancreatic duct.
  • Carboxypeptidase, a pancreatic brush border enzyme, splits one amino acid at a time.
  • Pancreatic lipase breaks down triglycerides into free fatty acids and monoglycerides.
  • Pancreatic lipase works with the help of the salts from bile secreted by the liver and the gallbladder.
  • Pancreatic amylase breaks down some carbohydrates (notably starch) into oligosaccharides.

• Mechanisms of Chemical Digestion

  • Both the parotid and pancreatic amylases hydrolyse the 1:4 link, but not the terminal 1:4 links or the 1:6 links.
  • Stomach pepsin digests about 20% of the proteins, the rest is digested by pancreatic and small intestine enzymes.
  • Of particular importance in fat digestion and absorption are bile salts which emulsify the fats allowing for their solution as micelles in chyme, and increasing the surface area on which the pancreatic lipases can operate.
  • Pancreatic lipase accounts for the majority of fat digestion and operates in conjuction with the bile salts.
  • Both the parotid and pancreatic amylases hydrolyse the 1:4 link, but not the terminal 1:4 links or the 1:6 links.

• Pancreas

  • As a digestive organ, the pancreas secretes pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that assist the absorption of nutrients and the digestion in the small intestine.
  • The endocrine cells of the pancreas form clusters called pancreatic islets or the islets of Langerhans .
  • The pancreatic islets contain two primary cell types: alpha cells, which produce the hormone glucagon, and beta cells, which produce the hormone insulin.