Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 28, 2015; 21(32): 9534-9543
Published online Aug 28, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i32.9534
Distinctive roles of unsaturated and saturated fatty acids in hyperlipidemic pancreatitis
Yu-Ting Chang, Ming-Chu Chang, Chien-Chih Tung, Shu-Chen Wei, Jau-Min Wong
Yu-Ting Chang, Ming-Chu Chang, Shu-Chen Wei, Jau-Min Wong, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 101, Taiwan
Chien-Chih Tung, Department of Integrated Diagnostics and Therapeutics, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 101, Taiwan
Author contributions: Chang YT and Chang MC contributed to the study concept and design and conducted the experiments; Chang YT, Chang MC, Tung CC, Wei SC and Wong JM analyzed and interpreted the data; Chang YT drafted the manuscript; and Chang YT and Wong JM supervised the study.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: The animal use for this study was reviewed and approved by the National Taiwan University College of Medicine and College of Public Health Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, No. 20080297.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Yu-Ting Chang, MD, MS, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7 Chung Shan South Road, Taipei, Taiwan. yutingchang@ntu.edu.tw
Telephone: +886-2-23123456-63561 Fax: +886-2-23633658
Received: March 14, 2015
Peer-review started: March 16, 2015
First decision: May 18, 2015
Revised: June 1, 2015
Accepted: July 8, 2015
Article in press: July 8, 2015
Published online: August 28, 2015
Processing time: 167 Days and 0 Hours
Abstract

AIM: To investigate how the saturated and unsaturated fatty acid composition influences the susceptibility of developing acute pancreatitis.

METHODS: Primary pancreatic acinar cells were treated with low and high concentrations of different saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, and changes in the cytosolic Ca2+ signal and the expression of protein kinase C (PKC) were measured after treatment.

RESULTS: Unsaturated fatty acids at high concentrations, including oleic acid, linoleic acid, palmitoleic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and arachidonic acid, induced a persistent rise in cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations in acinar cells. Unsaturated fatty acids at low concentrations and saturated fatty acids, including palmitic acid, stearic acid, and triglycerides, at low and high concentrations were unable to induce a rise in Ca2+ concentrations in acinar cells. Unsaturated fatty acids at high concentrations but not saturated fatty acids induced intra-acinar cell trypsin activation and cell damage and increased PKC expression.

CONCLUSION: At sufficiently high concentrations, unsaturated fatty acids were able to induce acinar cells injury and promote the development of pancreatitis. Unsaturated fatty acids may play a distinctive role in the pathogenesis of pancreatitis through the activation of PKC family members.

Keywords: Unsaturated fatty acid; Saturated fatty acid; Hypertriglyceridemia; Acute pancreatitis; Calcium

Core tip: The mechanism by which severe hypertriglyceridemia precipitates acute pancreatitis remains unknown. Abnormal sustained elevated cytosolic Ca2+ signals, which cause abnormal intracellular enzyme activation, are crucial in the initiation of acute pancreatitis. Unsaturated fatty acids at high concentrations induced a persistent rise in cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations in acinar cells and caused intra-acinar cell trypsin activation and cell damage. Unsaturated fatty acids at low concentrations and saturated fatty acids and triglycerides at low and high concentrations were unable to induce a rise in Ca2+ concentrations in acinar cells. Unsaturated fatty acids at high concentrations may play a crucial and distinctive role in the pathogenesis of hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis.