Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) alone or in combination with alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) on cerulein induced acute pancreatitis (AP) in rats.
Methods: AP was induced in 40 healthy male albino rats using a daily dose of cerulein (40 mu g/kg) for three days. The rats were divided into four groups: control, recovery (pancreatitis rats left without treatment), NAC (pancreatitis rats injected intraperitoneal (i.p.) with 25 mg NAC/kg daily) and NAC+ALA (pancreatitis rats treated with 25 mg NAC+100mg ALA/kg daily). The levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen(242) (CA(242)), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interlukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) as well as the enzyme activities (amylase, lipase and trypsinogen activation peptide) were determined after 2- and 4-weeks of treatment.
Results: Treatment with NAC or NAC+ALA led to a marked decrease in the levels of tumor markers, inflammatory cytokines, enzymes activity, DNA and RNA. The best amelioration effect occurred in the NAC+ALA rats group.
Conclusion: NAC induces a significant improvement in all studied parameters. Incorporation of NAC and ALA results in preeminent effects and it is considered an ideal cure for acute pancreatitis.