Morphological studies by light and electron microscopy of pancreatic acinar cells under the effect of Tityus serrulatus venom.

We studied in vivo and in vitro morphological aspects of pancreatic acinar cells after treatment with Tityus serrulatus venom (TSV). After three hours in an in vitro system, positive secretagogue effects of the venom were identifiable both at the light-microscopic (LM) and the electron-microscopic (EM) levels. At 1 microgram/ml TSV, maximal secretion (as measured in a concomitant radiolabeling dose-response experiment) of exocrine proteins at 58% was manifest as a discharge of most zymogen granules (ZG) and consequent appearance of secretory material in acinar lumina. At the supramaximal dose of 10 micrograms/ml TSV, exocytotic images were often observed also with secretory contents previously discharged. The lowest dose of venom at 0.01 microgram/ml caused no stimulation of zymogen discharge above resting secretion levels; however, morphological changes were observed. At high doses of TSV, both in vivo and in vitro, large aggregates associated with the cis-Golgi develop between this region and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Since Tityus venoms have been associated with causation of pancreatitis, we were interested in comparisons of our experimental tissue with parameters attributed to development of the disease. Our studies have demonstrated considerable evidence that large intracellular vacuoles, discharged ZG, effaced acinar lumina with disappearance of microvilli and other manifestations of possible early events in pancreatitis are indeed frequently observed both in pancreatic lobules in vitro and in whole pancreas in vivo when exposed to TSV.