Therapeutic effect of glycyrrhizin for severe acute pancreatitis in rats

Objective: To investigete the therapeutic effect of glycyrrhizin on severe acute pancreatitis(SAP) in rats. Methods: Rats were equally randomized into sham operation group,SAP group and SAP plus glycyrrhizin treatment group(treatment group).The SAP model was induced by retrograde cholangiopancreatic duct injection of 5% sodium taurocholate.The postoperative survival time and the serum levels of amylase,IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α,as well as the pathological scores of pancreatic tissue of each group at the predefined time points after surgery were determined and compared. Results: No death occurred in the sham operation group during the observation period,while the average survival time of the SAP group and treatment group was(28.50±17.82) and(41.50±17.59) hours respectively,and the difference between them had statistical significance(P0.05).Compared with the sham operation group,the serum levels of amylase,TNF-α,IL-1β and IL-6 of the SAP group and treatment group at each observation point were all significantly increased(all P0.05),but the elevated levels of the above parameters in the treatment group were all significantly lower than those in the SAP group(all P0.05).Except for the sham operation group,both the SAP group and treatment group presented the pathological features of SAP,but to a different extent;the pathological change in the treatment group was relatively mild and its pathological scores at each time points were also significantly lower than those of the SAP group(all P0.05). Conclusion: Glycyrrhizin has a definite therapeutic effect on SAP in rats.