Background: Cholecystokinin (CCK) exerts trophic effects on the exocrine pancreas. Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) results in hypotrophy of the pancreas. The present study aimed to examine the effect of exogenous and endogenous CCK during TPN.
Methods: Seventy-two Sprague-Dawley rats were orally fed or given TPN after pancreaticobiliary diversion (PBD) and were infused with CCK-8S or the CCK-receptor antagonist devazepide for 7 days.
Results: Infusion of CCK and PBD caused hyperCCKemia, whereas TPN did not influence the concentration of plasma CCK. The reduced pancreatic contents during TPN could be reversed by CCK but not by PBD. The hyperplastic response to CCK in orally fed rats was abolished during TPN. Devazepide did not influence the pancreatic variables in orally fed and TPN-treated rats.
Conclusion: TPN reduces the hyperplastic response of the exocrine pancreas to CCK, and CCK reverses the hypotrophy seen during TPN. The effects of CCK on the exocrine pancreas seems to need enteral nutrition for the full expression.