Hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is often associated with
acute pancreatitis. The relationship between these diseases and the role that
hypertriglyceridemia plays in
acute pancreatitis pathogenesis remains to be elucidated. In the present study, in order to investigate the mechanisms of hyper-lipidemic
acute pancreatitis (HLP), we established an animal model using
lipoprotein lipase (LPL)-deficient heterozygous mice injected with
caerulein. Susceptibility to
pancreatitis in LPL-deficient heterozygous mice was compared with that of wild-type mice after intraperitoneal (i.p.)
injections of
caerulein by determining
amylase release and pancreatic pathological scores. Furthermore, serum metabolome was detected through chemical derivatization followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). GC/MS data were analyzed by orthogonal-projection to latent structures-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA).
Caerulein induced increased levels of serum
amylase and more severe pancreatic
inflammation in LPL-deficient mice compared to wild-type mice. HLP was discriminated more accurately from healthy controls by the metabolites, including
valine,
leucine and
citrate. The metabolites included
valine,
leucine,
citrate,
malic acid,
proline,
tetradecanoic acid (14:0),
glutamine and
oleic acid (18:1). Changes in energy, fat and
amino acid metabolism were also evident. In conclusion, LPL-deficient heterozygous mice with
hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) exhibited enhanced susceptibility to
acute pancreatitis. GC/MS data revealed differences between healthy and HLP mice. Therefore, this technique is novel and a useful tool for the study of the HLP pathogenetic mechanism.