Experimental Models in Syrian Golden Hamster Replicate Human Acute Pancreatitis

Abstract

The hamster has been shown to share a variety of metabolic similarities with humans. To replicate human acute pancreatitis with hamsters, we comparatively studied the efficacy of common methods, such as the peritoneal injections of caerulein, L-arginine, the retrograde infusion of sodium taurocholate, and another novel model with concomitant administration of ethanol and fatty acid. The severity of pancreatitis was evaluated by serum amylase activity, pathological scores, myeloperoxidase activity, and the expression of inflammation factors in pancreas. The results support that the severity of pathological injury is consistent with the pancreatitis induced in mice and rat using the same methods. Specifically, caerulein induced mild edematous pancreatitis accompanied by minimal lung injury, while L-arginine induced extremely severe pancreatic injury including necrosis and neutrophil infiltration. Infusion of Na-taurocholate into the pancreatic duct induced necrotizing pancreatitis in the head of pancreas and lighter inflammation in the distal region. The severity of acute pancreatitis induced by combination of ethanol and fatty acids was between the extent of caerulein and L-arginine induction, with obvious inflammatory cells infiltration. In view of the advantages in lipid metabolism features, hamster models are ideally suited for the studies of pancreatitis associated with altered metabolism in humans.

Effects of a mixture of medetomidine, midazolam and butorphanol on anesthesia and blood biochemistry and the antagonizing action of atipamezole in hamsters

“…Syrian golden hamsters ( Mesocricetus auratus ) are small rodents possessing cheek pouches and a well-characterized animal model for oral mucosal irritation studies and research on human oral cancers [ 8 , 10 ]. Hamsters are essential animal models in biomedical studies, in addition to mice and rats, as they display many similar features to human physiology and are used also as models for human diseases, such as infectious diseases, atherosclerosis, pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [ 2 , 3 , 9 , 19 , 22 ]. Moreover, recently, it has become possible to generate transgenic or knockout hamsters [ 4 , 7 ].…”

TLR3 Ligand PolyI:C Prevents Acute Pancreatitis Through the Interferon-β/Interferon-α/β Receptor Signaling Pathway in a Caerulein-Induced Pancreatitis Mouse Model

“…The degree of pancreatic injury was evaluated by light microscopy in 200X magnification over five separate fields. The severity of pancreatitis was scored mainly based on the description in the previous study (22), and is listed in Supplementary Table 2.…”

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor of Syrian golden hamster has similar structure and function as human MIF and promotes pancreatic tumor growth

“…The hamster models of pancreatic and oral cancer have gained importance in their respective fields [9][10][11][12][13][14]. Moreover, these animals have also been instrumental in studying metabolic and/or inflammatory diseases like diabetes and pancreatitis [15,16]. Despite the fact that Syrian golden hamster is an important clinically relevant animal model for different diseases, it is not used to its full potential.…”