Sphincter of Oddi manometry. Paradoxical response to secretin but not to CCK in alcoholic patients with no pancreatic disease.

CONCLUSION

In chronic alcohol abusers with no pancreatic disease, secretin was found to induce a paradoxical spasmodic response in the sphincter of Oddi (SO) instead of the relaxation observed in controls. Cerulein, on the contrary, had a normal relaxing effect on the SO.

BACKGROUND

We previously reported SO dyskinesia in cases of chronic pancreatitis. Here we investigated whether chronic alcohol consumption may have contributed to the genesis of this dyskinesia.

METHODS

SO and main pancreatic duct pressures were recorded endoscopically with a dual electronic pressure sensor in 27 chronic alcohol abusers and compared with the values obtained in 15 normal controls. These pressures were recorded both in the basal state and after applying hormonal stimulation by injecting either secretin (1 CU/kg) or cerulein (75 ng/kg).

RESULTS

Cerulein relaxed the SO in both the controls and the chronic alcohol abusers, whereas it transiently enhanced the main pancreatic duct (MPD) pressure. Secretin induced a wave of MPD hyperpressure (+15.4 +/- 3.0 mm Hg) in both groups of subjects, but in the alcoholic group, instead of relaxing SO, it significantly enhanced the amplitude of phasic contractions (+32.6 +/- 8.4 mm Hg). The SO basal pressure was also paradoxically enhanced by secretin in the alcoholic patients (28.8 +/- 8.2 vs 10.1 +/- 2.4 mm Hg).