Adaptive Changes of the Exocrine Pancreas and Plasma Cholecystokinin Release following Subtotal Gastric Resection in Rats

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Abstract
This study was performed to investigate adaptive changes of the exocrine pancreas occurring after distal gastric resection by different procedures: Billroth I (BI) and Billroth II (BII). Sixty-four male Wistar rats were used and divided into four groups: controls (n = 16), sham-operated (n = 16), BI (n = 16) and BII (n = 16) subtotal gastric resection. Both procedures of subtotal gastric resection showed an organotrophic effect on the pancreas after 2 weeks: pancreatic weight in BI- and BII-operated rats increased by 23 and 35% and DNA content by 36 and 27%, respectively, compared to controls (p < 0.001). After 4 weeks a further increase in pancreatic weight (46%), DNA content (52%) and protein content (58%) was found in BII rats. Trypsin and amylase content were increased in BI rats after 2 weeks (p < 0.01). No parallel changes were observed in the enzyme content of BII rats as trypsin increased by over 200%, amylase by over 100% and lipase remained unaffected. Hormonal studies were carried out in 36 rats divided into groups as above. Basal and stimulated plasma levels of gastrin were reduced (p < 0.01) following both types of subtotal gastric resection (p < 0.01). Basal cholecystokinin (CCK) plasma levels did not differ between operated and control rats. Following the test meal CCK plasma levels were significantly increased after BII gastric resection (p < 0.001) and BI gastric resection (p < 0.01) compared to controls.