Effects of pyrrolidine dithiocaramate and Vit C on ICAM-1 and SOD gene expression in rats with acute pancreatitis

AIM:To investigate the effects of pyrrolidine dithiocaramate (PDTC) and vitamin C (Vit C) on the intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) gene expression and the superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD, Cu, Zn-SOD) gene expression in a rat model of acute pancreatitis (AP). METHODS:Rat AP model was induced by retrograde injection of 3% sodium taurocholate in the bilio-pancreatic duct. The AP rats were divided into three groups: the normal saline (NS) group, the PDTC group and the Vit C group. The three groups were separately administered NS, PDTC and Vit C at 10 min and 5 h after operation. Rat sham operation (SO) group was subjected to laparotomy only with no further treatment. The levels of ICAM expression, Mn-SOD and Cu, Zn-SOD expression in pancreas and liver were determined by RT-PCR at 1, 5 and 10 h after the induction of AP. RESULTS:Comparing with SO group, the NS group showed a higher expression of ICAM-1 and a lower expression of Mn-SOD both in pancreas and in liver, and a lower expression of Cu, Zn-SOD in pancreas. PDTC treatment reduced the ICAM-1 expression and increased the Mn-SOD and Cu, Zn-SOD expression to a certain degree comparing with NS group, especially at 5 h. Vit C treatment also increased the Mn-SOD and Cu, Zn-SOD expression. But no obvious suppressive effect on ICAM-1 expression was observed in Vit C group.CONCLUSIONS:PDTC and Vit C have the effects of enhancing Mn-SOD and Cu, Zn-SOD expression.PDT C has an effect of inhibiting ICAM-1 expression in the pancreas and liver of rats with AP, whereas Vit C dose not.The results suggest that one of the mechanisms of PDTC and Vit C treat ing AP not only anti-oxidate directly by themselves, but also enhance Mn-SOD and Cu, Zn-SOD expression, and that the anti-inflammatory ef ect of PDTC is involved in the suppression of ICAM-1 expression.