Pancreatic hepatocytes in hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) infected with Trypanosoma cruzi

Functional and histopathological study of the pancreas in hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) infected and reinfected with Trypanosoma cruzi

“…The intrapancreatic neuritis observed in T. cruzi-infected animals is in accordance with the pancreatic denervation of human Chagas' disease (Rocha et al 1998;Santos et al 1999a). This reduction in nervous trophic status caused by parasympathetic denervation of the pancreas may also have some role in the development of pancreatic hepatocytes (Santos et al 2002), which could be related to disturbances in the production of somatostatin, PP and/or fibroblast growth factors. Troncon et al (1996) described a lower density of antral somatostatin-immunoreactive cells in the digestive form of chronic Chagas' disease.…”

“…However, changes due to T. cruzi infection in other sites, such as gonads and kidneys (Cabrine-Santos et al 2003), central nervous system and endocrine glands (Saldanha et al 2001;Santos et al 2002), have not been objects of research to the same extent. Especially, in spite of accumulating evidence that the pancreas may be affected by Trypanosoma cruzi infection, this has not provoked similar interest.…”

Pancreatic hepatocellular tumor

“…Pancreatic hepatocyte transdifferentiation is rare in humans [2,5] and healthy animals and are generally seen in older animals having atrophic pancreas or exposed to substances causing pancreatic atrophy [1,3,6,12,15] . The origin of pancreatic hepatocytes is still controversial.…”

“…Studies by dos Santos et al [3] showed that hepatocytes can also be induced after infection with Trypanosoma cruzi in hamsters [3] . In this model, hepatocytes were located within the islets and did not react with endocrine markers.…”

“…The appearance of hepatic foci in the pancreas occurs in several animal models and humans [1][2][3][4][5][6] . However, the cell of origin of hepatocytes and their biology are still controversial.…”