Pioglitazone, a specific ligand of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma, protects pancreas against acute cerulein-induced pancreatitis

Table 1 Histology findings in the pancreas after treatment with various doses of pioglitazone alone or in combination with cerulein infused s.c. to induce pancreatitis

	Edema	Leukocyte infiltration	Vacuolization of acinar cells
Control	0	0	0
Pioglitazone 10 mg/kg	0	0	0
Pioglitazone 20 mg/kg	0	0	0
Pioglitazone 50 mg/kg	0	0	0
Pioglitazone 100 mg/kg	0	0	0
Cerulein	2/3	2	2/3
Pioglitazone 10 mg/kg+cerulean	2/3	1/2	2
Pioglitazone 20 mg/kg+cerulean	2	1	0.5
Pioglitazone 50 mg/kg+cerulean	1/2	0/1	1
Pioglitazone 100 mg/kg+cerulean	1	1	1

Table 2 Pancreatic DNA synthesis, pancreatic blood flow, plasma lipase activity, and the levels of IL-1β and IL-10 in rats treated with various doses of pioglitazone alone or in combination with cerulein infused s.c. to induce pancreatitis

	Pancreatic DNA synthesis (dpm/μg DNA)	Pancreatic blood flow (% of control)	Plasma lipase activity (U/L)	Plasma IL-1β (pg/mL)	Plasma IL-10 (pg/mL)
Control	58.8±1.6	100±2.0	57.0±6.0	70.3±4.2	67.0±5.0
Pioglitazone 10 mg/kg	61.3±1.9	98.9±1.7	62.3±5.6	69.7±3.9	66.9±4.1
Pioglitazone 20 mg/kg	60.9±2.2	99.6±2.1	59.2±6.7	74.2±5.5	72.7±5.1
Pioglitazone 50 mg/kg	61.6±1.1	101.5±1.7	60.5±4.5	68.2±4.9	73.0±3.0
Pioglitazone 100 mg/kg	57.4±2.1	97.6±2.4	71.8±6.9	76.8±5.4	71.9±5.1
Cerulein	33.8±1.4a	60.9±2.5a	400.3±10.6a	212.0±8.6a	79.2±3.5
Pioglitazone 10 mg/kg+cerulean	37.6±2.8a	66.2±2.1a	372.1±12.1a	198.4±5.7a	73.1±3.8
Pioglitazone 20 mg/kg+cerulean	41.6±1.7a,c	69.3±1.5a,c	322.4±9.6a,c	153.2±6.2a,c	81.6±7.2
Pioglitazone 50 mg/kg+cerulean	45.9±1.7a,c	79.2±2.2a,c	288.3±18.0a,c	131.3±7.2a,c	75.1±3.0
Pioglitazone 100 mg/kg+cerulean	39.6±2.3a	65.1±2.3a	269.3±13.9a	129.3±6.9a	64.6±3.2

^aP<0.05 vs control, ^cP<0.05 vs cerulein alone.