CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM INFLUENCE ON EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED PANCREATITIS.

The etiology of acute hemorrhagic or necrosing pancreatitis has remained an enigma. Infection, 1 bile reflux, 2 metabolic changes, 3 trauma, 4 and vascular changes, 5 have been implicated and investigated in the past. Sympathetic-nervous-system influence has also been studied as a factor in the production of this lethal disease. Mallet-Guy et al have demonstrated that stimulation of the left splanchnic nerve can produce pancreatitis. They demonstrated this in experiments in 1944 in which acute pancreatitis was produced in the anesthetized guinea pigs and in experiments in 1949 in which chronic pancreatitis was produced in unanesthetized dogs. 6,7 The present investigation was initiated to further investigate the influence of excitation and overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system on pancreatitis Methods and Materials The study is divided into three experiments according to the different methods of producing increased sympathetic activity: (1) ablation of the anterior hypothalamic nuclei; (2) repeated electrical stimulation