Pancreatitis refers to a painful inflammation of the pancreas. This vital organ supplies the digestive enzymes necessary for your body to digest food. The pancreas also produces the digestive hormones insulin and glucagon. Recurrent bouts of pancreatitis can lead to protein malabsorption and vitamin B-12 deficiency. Recent research also indicates that a certain protein can protect your pancreas from the damaging effects of alcohol.
Causes
Pancreatic enzymes normally do not activate until they reach the small intestine. In pancreatitis, however, digestive enzymes become active while they are still inside your pancreas, where they effectively “eat” the tissue of the organ. Inflammation, swelling, bleeding, severe pain, vomiting, fever and jaundice typically result. Pancreatitis can be acute, meaning it comes on suddenly, or chronic, wherein the condition leads to irreversible damage, according to PubMed Health. Long-term excessive alcohol intake represents one of the most common causes of chronic pancreatitis.
Malabsorption
In chronic pancreatitis, particularly that which is alcohol-induced, protein malabsorption occurs in 25 to 45 percent of all cases, according to Daniel Rigaud, M.D., of the Danone Institute. Over time the pancreas essentially stops secreting the enzymes and hormones that the body requires to break down protein molecules.
Vitamin B12
Protein malabsorption in chronic pancreatitis often leads to vitamin B-12 deficiency, according to Rigaud. This happens because protein – particularly protein from animal sources such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products – provides the main source of vitamin B-12 in the diet. Vitamin B-12 plays a role in many bodily processes, including the creation of red blood cells, DNA synthesis and proper functioning of your neurological system, according to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements.
Calmodulin
A laboratory study conducted by researchers from the Japan Science and Technology Agency, the University of Liverpool in the U.K. and Cardiff University in Wales found that a certain built-in protein may protect the pancreas from alcohol-induced pancreatitis. This protein, known as calmodulin, exists in all cells. Calmodulin effectively blocks the impact of alcohol on trypsinogen; this compound is the precursor of typsin, a pancreatic enzyme, and trypsinogen dysfunction marks the beginning of acute pancreatitis. The results of this study appeared in the journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
References
- Pub Med Health; Pancreatitis; David C. Dugdale, III, M.D., et al.; January 2010
- Danone Institute; Nutrition for Health; Nutrition and Chronic Pancreatitis; May 1999
- National Institutes of Health; Office of Dietary Supplements; Vitamin B12; June 2011
- "Science Daily"; Protein Could Be Used to Treat Alcohol Effects On Pancreas; March 2011
- "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"; Calmodulin Protects Against Alcohol-Induced Pancreatic Trypsinogen Activation Elicited Via Ca2+ Release Through IP3 Receptors; Julia V. Gerasimenko, et al.; March 2011
