Elevated serum ferritin levels are associated with severity and prognosis of severe acute pancreatitis: a preliminary cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Serum ferritin (SF), as an acute-phase response protein, is used to reflect the degree of oxidative stress and systemic inflammatory responses. This study was designed to assess the effect of elevated SF levels on the severity of acute pancreatitis (AP). METHODS: From January 2013 to December 2020, 200 consecutive patients with AP were retrospectively reviewed to analyze the relationships among the etiologies of pancreatitis, the severity of the disease and SF levels. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and logistic regression analysis were used to assess whether elevated SF levels could predict the onset of organ failure in AP. RESULTS: 92 (46%) had high SF levels (> 275 ng/ml). SF levels were not associated with the etiology of AP disease. Among patients with high SF levels, there was a significant increase in the proportion of patients with severe AP (23.1% vs. 76.9%) and a higher proportion of systemic inflammatory response scores (25.9% vs. 44.6%) in comparison to patients with normal SF levels. The area under the ROC curve for SF in predicting persistent organ failure was 0.812 [95% confidence interval 0.721-0.904]. CONCLUSIONS: F concentrations were positively correlated with the severity of AP, and quantitative assessment of SF can predict disease severity and organ failure in patients with AP.

Prevalence and clinical characteristics of fatty pancreas in Yangzhou, China: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of fatty pancreas in Yangzhou, China. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. Initially, 2093 subjects were included in the study. After the exclusion of 865 subjects based on incomplete information, a total of 1228 subjects were selected for further analysis. The subjects were stratified into two groups (the fatty pancreas group and the non-fatty pancreas group) based on the results. Anthropometric and biochemical findings were compared between the groups. RESULTS: Among the 2093 study subjects, 56 (2.7%) had fatty pancreas. Overall, 53 out of 1228 subjects were diagnosed with fatty pancreas and included into the fatty pancreas group. Univariate analysis showed significant differences in age and the prevalence of general obesity, central obesity, alcohol consumption, metabolic syndrome and fatty liver between the two groups (all p < 0.01). The fatty pancreas group had higher levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, serum uric acid, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein, and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein than did the non-fatty pancreas group (all p < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age (p = 0.007), central obesity (p = 0.002) and fatty liver (p = 0.006) were independent risk factors for fatty pancreas, with odds ratios (ORs) of 1.034 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.009-1.059), 5.364 (95% CI: 1.890-15.227), and 2.666 (95% CI: 1.332-5.338), respectively. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of fatty pancreas in the examined population is approximately 2.7%. Increased age, central obesity and fatty liver disease are independent risk factors for fatty pancreas.