Pentoxifylline has favorable preventive effects on experimental chronic pancreatitis model.

Background: To investigate the protective efficacy of pentoxifylline through biochemical parameters and histopathological scores in a caerulein- and alcohol-induced experimental model of chronic pancreatitis in rats.Methods: A model of chronic pancreatitis with caerulein and alcohol was created in female rats of the genus Sprague Dawley. Pentoxifylline was administered in doses of 25 mg/kg (low dose) and 50 mg/kg (high dose) as a protective agent. Each group contained 8 animals. The groups were: group 1 (control group); caerulein + alcohol, group 2 (low-dose pentoxifylline group); caerulein + alcohol + pentoxifylline 25 mg/kg, group 3 (high-dose pentoxifylline group); caerulein + alcohol + pentoxifylline 50 mg/kg, group 4 (placebo); caerulein + alcohol + saline, group 5 (sham group); only saline injection.Rats were sacrificed 12 h after the last injection, and TNF-α, TGF-β, MDA, and GPx concentrations were measured in blood samples. The histopathologic examination was conducted by a pathologist who was unaware of the groups.Results: The biochemical results of the treatment groups (group 2 and group 3) were statistically significantly lower compared with the control group (group 1) (p < .05). The difference between the low-dose treatment group (group 2) and high-dose treatment group (group 3) was significant in terms of biochemical parameters (p < .05). The difference between group 2 and the control group was not significant in terms of histopathologic scores (p > .05), whereas the difference between the group 3 and the control group was statistically significant (p < .05).Conclusions: As a result, pentoxifylline, which has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, was shown to have protective efficacy in an experimentally generated model of chronic pancreatitis.