Introduction : Acute Pancreatitis (AP) is a severe inflammatory disease that has no particular therapy. Due to their capacity for self renewal and multipotency, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) provide a viable therapeutic option.
Aim of the Work: The purpose of this study was to determine the possible therapeutic effect of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) on acute pancreatitis induced by L-arginine in adult male albino rats.
Materials and Methods: Three main groups of 45 adult male albino rats were established.; group I served as a control and included; subgroup IA (served as the source of BM-MSCs), subgroup IB (animals received 2.5 ml of saline once intraperitoneally) and subgroup IC (animals received 2.5 ml of saline once intraperitoneally followed one hour later by intravenous injection of 1 ml of ordinary media via the tail vein). Group II: animals were injected by 2.5 ml of 20% L-arginine once intraperitoneally for induction of AP while group III: animals were injected with 1 ml (1×106) of BM-MSCs suspended in ordinary media through the tail vein one hour after induction of AP. Blood samples were collected to measure serum amylase and lipase levels at 24 hours and 72 hours. Then, rats were sacrificed at 72 hours and pancreatic specimens were processed for histological and immunohistochemical studies by the light microscope.
Results: In comparison to the untreated group II, group III treated with BM-MSCs exhibited substantial improvement in pancreatic histological structure and pancreatic enzyme levels.
Conclusion: BM-MSCs exerted a significant ameliorative therapeutic effect on exocrine pancreatic tissue after AP induction.