Epigenetic modifications of inflammation in pancreas cells of rats with alcoholic pancreatitis and the protective effect of cooked rhubarb

Abstract Alcohol abuse is known to be a precipitating risk factor for pancreatic cell injury in pancreatitis,but the exact mechanism of action is far from clear. In this study, a 2x2 factorial design was used to determine whether chronic alcohol exposure affect epigenetics modifications of inflammatory genes in pancreatic cells and the potential protective effects of cooked rhubarb in rats with alcoholic pancreatitis. First, two intervention pairs (chronic alcohol exposure and/or acute pancreatitis stimulation) will be compared in rats. Further analysis of two other intervention pairs (cooked rhubarb treatment and/or acute pancreatitis stimulation) will be performed in alcohol-exposed rats. We found that the combination of acute pancreatitis and chronic alcohol intake resulted in changes to DNA methylation levels, protein expression of IL-1αand IL-10, and induced pathological alterations in the pancreas(P<0.05). Furthermore, Additionally, alcohol-experienced rats treated with cooked rhubarb displayed some effectiveness in reversing these effects (P<0.05). From these experimental results, it can be justified that chronic ethanol exposure could induce epigenetic changes of inflammatory factors and exacerbate inflammatory damage in pancreatic cells,and cooked rhubarb may prevent the progression of alcoholic pancreatitis in rats.