Regional arterial infusion with 5-fluorouracil attenuates severe acute pancreatitis in a rat model

Administration of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) has been demonstrated to be beneficial in treating severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). However, drugs administered by intravenous injection (IVI) have difficulty to reach the pancreatic tissue. In this study, we aimed to assess the effects of 5-FU administered with regional arterial infusion (RAI) on severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) in rats. Rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: the SAP group as a control group, the RAI group (5-FU infused through an arterial catheter), and the IVI group (5-FU infused through a left femoral venous catheter). Pancreatitis was induced by retrograde injection of 5% sodium taurocholate (1 ml/kg) into the main pancreatic duct. The pathologic changes in the pancreas were observed and scored. Levels of amylase, lipase, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in the serum were measured at 12 h and 24 h following the induction of SAP. RAI with 5-FU remarkably alleviated histological injury of the pancreas, decreased serum amylase and lipase, and down-regulated serum TNF-α, IL-1, and the ratio of IL-6/ IL-10 sodium taurocholate-induced SAP. This study showed that regional arterial infusion with 5-FU increased the drug concentration locally in the pancreas and attenuated the severity of SAP.