Specific Therapy for Acute Pancreatitis: Exploring the Role of Galanin and its antagonists

To date there exists no specific treatment for acute pancreatit1s (AP). Maintaining exocrine secretory function, control of the inflammatory cascade and adequate microvascular blood flow, in the pancreas are important to regulate the physiological state in the pancreas. A disturbance in any of the above could trigger an imbalance in pancreatic function culminating in AP. Over the last decade the Pancreatobiliary Research Group at the Flinders University has focussed on the neuropeptide, galanin, its antagonists, and their role in pancreatic function and AP in possums and mice. Based on our experiments in these models, it appears that galanin plays an important role in regulating not only endocrine function but also exocrine function and microvascular blood flow in the pancreas as well as the inflammatory cascade.