Pharmacological approach to acute pancreatitis

Table 1 Pharmacological treatment of acute pancreatitis: Overview of drugs tested in animal experimental models and clinical trials

Name	Mechanism	Effect in animal models	Result in human trials
Somatostatin	Inhibition of pancreatic secretion	No reduced mortality	No reduced mortality
Octreotid	Inhibition of pancreatic secretion	No effect (divergent results)	No reduced mortality
Gabexate mesilate	Protease inhibitor	Reduced histology score	Maybe reduced mortality
N-acetyl-cysteine	Reduction of oxidative stress	Reduced severity	No reduced mortality
Nitrogen oxide	Improvement of micro-circulation	Reduced edema	No published trials
Steroids	Non-specific anti-inflammatory	Reduced mortality	No published trials
Interleukin-10	Anti-inflammatory	Reduced mortality	No published trials
TNF-alpha antibody	Specific anti-inflammatory	Reduced mortality	No published trials
PAF inhibitor	Specific anti-inflammatory	No reduced mortality	No reduced mortality
Antibiotics	Antibacterial	-	Reduced mortality
Probiotics	Prevention of colonization of the gut	-	No reduced mortality

Table 2 Pharmacological prevention of PEP: Overview of drugs tested in clinical trials

Name	Mechanism	Incidence of PEP
Somatostatin	Inhibition of pancreatic secretion	No effect
Octreotid	Inhibition of pancreatic secretion	Probably reduced
Gabexate mesilate	Protease inhibitor	No effect
N-acetylcysteine	Reduction of oxidative stress	No effect
Nitrogen oxide	Improvement of micro-circulation	No effect
Steroids	Non-specific anti-inflammatory	No effect
Interleukin-10	Anti-inflammatory	Probably no effect
TNF-alpha	Specific anti-inflammatory	No published trials
Antibiotics	Antibacterial	Reduced