Animal models of pancreatitis: Can it be translated to human pain study?

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Animal model; Pancreatitis; Visceral pain; Mechanism

Core tip: Choosing the right model of pancreatitis is difficult and the scientific rationale needs to be carefully considered. Furthermore, no model of pancreatitis parallels all classical symptoms and the question under investigation is of importance when choosing a model. One of the main symptoms of chronic pancreatitis is visceral pain and in order to improve the pain treatment and obtain more knowledge about the physiology behind the pancreatitis associated visceral pain, animal models of pancreatitis associated visceral pain are needed.