The effect of short-term octreotide administration on the histologic structure of stomach, duodenum, jejunum, colon, liver and gallbladder in an experimental pancreatitis model.

It is known that long-term administration of octreotide leads to changes in the histology of intraabdominal organs and plasma biochemical values. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the histological effect of short-term octreotide administration on digestive organs in the experimentally induced pancreatitis by ligating pancreatic duct. The sham operation was performed on 20 rabbits in Groups 1 and 2. Acute pancreatitis was induced by pancreatic duct ligation in 20 rabbits in Groups 3 and 4. Octreotide was administered subcutaneously to the rabbits in Groups 2 and 4 at a dosage of 10 microg/kg/day for 7 days. The animals were sacrificed at the end of day 7, blood and tissue samples were collected. There was no histological changes in the stomach, duodenum, gallbladder, or small and large intestines of those group which received octreotide, while hepatic bile duct proliferation, bile duct epithelium proliferation, periportal inflammation and venous stasis were observed in liver histology. In conclusion, one-week octreotide administration in this experimental acute pancreatitis model was not associated with pathologic changes in digestive organs except liver.