AJP - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, Vol 255, Issue 5 670-G675, Copyright © 1988 by American Physiological Society
Pancreatic growth after partial resection of normal and enlarged pancreas in rats fed soya flour
P. S. Oates and R. G. Morgan
Department of Human Biology, School of Community Health, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley, Australia.
Pancreatic growth was studied after partial resection of the normal-sized
pancreas in rats fed heated soya flour (HSF) or the enlarged gland in rats
fed raw soya flour (RSF). Resection involved the removal of the splenic and
gastric segments and in both the normal and enlarged gland this represents
a loss of approximately 55% of total pancreatic mass. After partial
resection animals were either continued on these preresected diets or
changed to the alternative diets. For at least the first 8 days after
resection, in all conditions studied, there was a significant increase in
DNA synthesis in the pancreas, involving both parenchymal and
nonparenchymal cells as shown by autoradiography. The increased cell
turnover was not associated with any increase in total DNA content of the
gland, indicating that the increase paralleled cell loss in response to
injury caused by the surgery. By 160 days after resection of the normal
pancreas, RSF feeding caused both hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the
remnant, but after partial resection of the enlarged gland, growth was
limited to hypertrophy. These results suggest that the pancreas has a
limited capacity for additional growth after that initially caused by RSF.
