pancreas diseases : How Coffee Can Reduce the Risk of Pancreatitis

How Coffee Can Reduce the Risk of Pancreatitis

That coffee can reduce the risk of alcohol-induced pancreatitis has been know for some time, but scientists have so far been unable to determine the processes involved. Professor Ole Peterson and Professor Robert Sutton from the University of Liverpool have now succeeded to shed some light on this question.
In a recent study, they have found that pancreatic acinar cells can be damaged by non-oxidative alcohol metabolites eliciting abnormal cytosolic Ca2+ signals, resulting in necrosis. Necrosis results from excessive loss of Ca2+ from the endoplasmatic reticulum - which is mediated by Ca2+ release through specific channels - and inhibition of Ca2+ pumps in intracellular stores, followed by entry of extracellular Ca2+. The researchers found that these abnormal Ca2+ signals are inhibited by caffeine which can at least partially close these channels, reducing the risk of alcoholic pancreatitis. However, Professor Petersen cautions that ‘The caffeine effect, however, is weak, and excessive coffee intake has its own dangers.’
On the basis of these findings, Professor Peterson, Professor Sutton and their team hope to be able to identify specific chemical agents that target the channels causing the excessive liberation of calcium ions inside the cells. This would be a major step towards the development of a pharmacological treatment for pancreatitis.
The findings are published in Trends in Pharmacological Sciences (2006;27:113-120) and Gastroenterology (2006;130:781-793).

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