Effect of potato inhibitor of proteolytic enzymes on rat pancreas morphology. Part II.

The effect of potato inhibitor of proteolytic enzymes on the ultrastructure of rat pancreas was investigated administering the inhibitor with drinking water in 100 mg doses during 20 days. On the 21st day of the experiment the pancreas was removed and sections were taken from the body of the gland for examinations in electron microscope. Ultrastructural investigations showed that the inhibitor exerted a trophic effect on the pancreas expressed as a stronger activity of the acinar cells in which increased number of zymogen granules were found. In pancreatic homogenates a reduction of the RNA/DNA ratio was demonstrated in the group of rats receiving the inhibitor, which suggests hyperplasia of the acinar pancreatic cells in relation to the control group of rats. The obtained results of ultrastructural and biochemical investigations in the pancreas of inhibitor-receiving rats are a confirmation of the results of investigations carried out under light microscope, and they explain the cause of increased exocrine activity of the pancreas.