A new pathological scoring method for adrenal injury in rats with severe acute pancreatitis.

These studies investigated the appearance and function of adrenal glands in rats with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and established a new histopathological score to evaluate adrenal histopathological changes. Severe acute pancreatitis relied on retrograde infusion of 5% sodium taurocholate into the bile-pancreatic duct. The damage of SAP was estimated by serum amylase, secretory phospholipase A2 and pancreatic histopathology. Light and electron microscopy of adrenal gland, and the levels of serum corticosterone were investigated. These results showed that the generally ascending trend of adrenal pathological score was inversely proportional to the generally descending trend of serum corticosterone levels, but parallel with the changes of pancreatic histopathology. Herein, the new adrenal histopathological score was effective in the evaluation of adrenal injury following SAP. It may indirectly reflect the variation of serum cortisol levels and the severity of pancreatitis to a certain extent.