| Theme |
Obesity Related Digestive Diseases |
| Title |
Connection between Obesity and Pancreatic Disease |
| Author |
Morihisa Hirota |
Division of Gastroenterology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine |
| Author |
Tooru Shimosegawa |
Division of Gastroenterology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine |
| [ Summary ] |
There are an increasing number of reports which demonstrate the relation between obesity and pancreatic diseases. Obesity is associated with the increased severity and mortality of acute pancreatitis (AP). Abdominal adiposity is thought to be a risk factor for developing first-time AP. In experimental AP models, obese mice developed severer AP as compared to lean mice. It is thought that inflammatory cells, especially macrophages accumulating in fat tissue, play a central role in the process of developing severe AP in obese patients. Recently, it has been demonstrated that excess weight before the onset of disease may be a risk factor in the development of alcoholic chronic pancreatitis. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated a correlation between obesity and risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Obesity related chronic inflammation and insulin resistance are thought to contribute to these mechanisms. Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) or the phosphatidylinositol 3 (PI3) kinase signaling pathway are thought to be important in obesity related carcinogenesis. As a result, it has become obvious that there is an association between obesity and pancreatic disease. |