PANCREATIC GROWTH AND CELL TURNOVER IN THE RAT FED RAW SOYA FLOUR

  • 1 January 1982
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 108  (2) , 217-224
Abstract
Growth and differentiation of the pancreatic acinar cell was studied in rats fed raw soy flour (RSF) for up to 1 yr. A 2nd group of rats were fed a control diet. After 1 wk of RSF feeding there was a 200% increase in tissue RNA and weight, indicating initial hypertrophy, which was maintained for the 1-yr study period. By the 2nd wk and over the remainder of the period studied, there was also a marked increase in total DNA, suggesting hyperplasia. Cell turnover, as measured by the rate of incorporation of 3H-thymidine into pancreatic DNA, was significantly higher in RSF-fed animals only from the 2nd-4th wk; it then returned to control values. Autoradiography showed an 18-fold increase in duct cell labeling at the end of the 1st wk and an 11-fold increase by the end of the 2nd wk. Acinar cell labeling doubled from the 2nd-12th wk. These studies confirm previous reports that RSF produces pancreatic hypertrophy and hyperplasia and that there is initially marked stimulation of DNA synthesis in the duct cell compartment. Cells with the morphologic characteristics of duct cells may be the precursors of acinar cells in hyperplastic pancreatic tissue.