Immunological Participation in Chronic Calcifying Pancreatitis

Abstract

Immunological studies performed in 12 patients with chronic calcifying pancreatitis show significant increase in serum concentrations of IgA and IgM. Presence of autoantibodies to smooth muscle, mitochondria, antinuclear, gastric parietal cells and IgG was not frequent. Immune complexes were detected in the sera of 11 patients. Normal numbers of B lymphocytes and a significant decrease in T-active and total T lymphocytes were observed in peripheral blood. These results suggest an immunologic participation in chronic calcifying pancreatitis and may explain the persistence and progressive nature of the disease.

Expression of major histocompatibility antigens in human chronic pancreatitis.

“…28 Later, Nerenberg et al detected raised values of a circulating antibody monospecific for a pancreatic acinar antigen.29 Initial events during development of organ specific autoimmunity entail aberrant expression of MHC class II antigens,'8 thus allowing presentation of cell specific antigens to potentially autoreactive Tlymphocytes. These cells recognise protein fragments and synthetic peptides in association with class I and II molecules.…”

Immunological Investigations in Acute and Chronic Human Pancreatitis

“…It has been known for years that specific antipancreatic and other autoantibodies are produced in human pancreatitis (1 3, 10 12, 18-20). A presence o f circulating immune complexes (1C) and a significant decrease in the percentage of T-active and T-total peripheral lymphocytes in chronic calcifying pancreatitis have been ob served (5). A specific lymphocyte sensitization has been found in chronic human pancreatitis using a transformation test ( 15,20).…”

Tropical Chronic Pancreatitis

“…The pancreas was hard and nodular and the duct was dilated. In the 1960s and 1970s, there were reports of a similar syndrome from other countries in Asia (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Malaysia), Africa (Nigeria, Uganda, Burundi, Zaire, and Malawi), and South America (Brazil) [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. In 1955, Zuidema described 18 cases of disseminated pancreatic calcification in young nonalcoholic individuals in Indonesia [2].…”