Brief Article
Copyright ©2011 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 28, 2011; 17(16): 2126-2130
Published online Apr 28, 2011. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v17.i16.2126
Study on chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer using MRS and pancreatic juice samples
Jian Wang, Chao Ma, Zhuan Liao, Bing Tian, Jian-Ping Lu
Jian Wang, Chao Ma, Bing Tian, Jian-Ping Lu, Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
Zhuan Liao, Department of Gastroenterology, Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
Author contributions: Wang J and Ma C contributed equally to this work and performed the majority of experiments and data analysis; Liao Z provided the vital reagents and analytical tools; Tian B collected of pancreatic juice samples; Lu JP designed the study and wrote the manuscript.
Supported by Grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30870709 and the Program of Shanghai Subject Chief Scientist, No. 08XD14002(A)
Correspondence to: Jian-Ping Lu, MD, Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, 168 Changhai Road, Shanghai 200433, China. luping@sh163.net
Telephone: +86-21-81873637 Fax: +86-21-81873637
Received: August 17, 2010
Revised: December 10, 2010
Accepted: December 17, 2010
Published online: April 28, 2011
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the markers of pancreatic diseases and provide basic data and experimental methods for the diagnosis of pancreatic diseases.

METHODS: There were 15 patients in the present study, among whom 10 had pancreatic cancer and 5, chronic pancreatitis. In all patients, pancreatic cancer or chronic pancreatitis was located on the head of the pancreas. Pathology data of all patients was confirmed by biopsy and surgery. Among the 10 patients with pancreatic cancer, 3 people had a medical history of long-term alcohol consumption. Of 5 patients with chronic pancreatitis, 4 men suffered from alcoholic chronic pancreatitis. Pancreatic juice samples were obtained from patients by endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography. Magnetic resonance spectroscopyn was performed on an 11.7-T scanner (Bruker DRX-500) using Call-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill pulse sequences. The parameters were as follows: spectral width, 15 KHz; time domain, 64 K; number of scans, 512; and acquisition time, 2.128 s.

RESULTS: The main component of pancreatic juice included leucine, iso-leucine, valine, lactate, alanine, acetate, aspartate, lysine, glycine, threonine, tyrosine, histidine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine. On performing 1D 1H and 2D total correlation spectroscopy, we found a triplet peak at the chemical shift of 1.19 ppm, which only appeared in the spectra of pancreatic juice obtained from patients with alcoholic chronic pancreatitis. This triplet peak was considered the resonance of the methyl of ethoxy group, which may be associated with the metabolism of alcohol in the pancreas.

CONCLUSION: The triplet peak, at the chemical shift of 1.19 ppm is likely to be the characteristic metabolite of alcoholic chronic pancreatitis.

Keywords: Pancreatic juice, Pancreatic cancer, Chronic pancreatitis, Magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Magnetic resonance imaging