Change Of Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide Neurons In Colonic Submucous Plexus Of Severe Acute Pancreatitis Rats With Intestinal Dysmotility

Objective:The objective of this study was to investigate potential effects of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in colonic submucous plexus of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) rats with intestinal dysmotility.Methods:Twenty Sprague-Dawley rats weighing200-250g were randomly divided into two groups:SAP group (n=10) and sham operated group (n=10). Severe acute pancreatitis was induced by intraductal infusion of5%sodium taurodeoxycholate. The small intestinal transit ratio were detected. Pancreatic lesion was scored. Whole mount preperations of colonic submucous plexus were prepared and double-immunolabeling for Hu-IR neurons and VIP-IR neurons was employed for the whole-mont preperation to observe the morphology of VIP neurons. The percentage of VIP-IR neurons in the total neurons was calculated.Results:Compared with the rats in the sham operated group, the small intestinal transit ratio in the rats of SAP group was significantly lower (28.89±4.16vs 63.17±4.11, P<0.05), the score of pancreatic lesion was remarkably higher (1.7±0.7vs15.6±1.2, P<0.05). The percentage of VIP-IR neurons was significantly higher in SAP group than that in the sham operated group (73.48±2.58vs55.69±2.20, P<0.05). Conclusions:A high level expression of VIP-IR neurons in colonic submucous plexus in SAP rats may be one of the nervous mechanisms underlying intestinal dysmotility.