Stone formation is an important feature of chronic pancreatitis, especially tropical calcific pancreatitis (TCP), where the stones are large in size, highly irregular in shape and cause enormous tissue destruction.
The exact mechanism of stone formation is not well-understood. It is very important to understand the initial event so that stone formation can be controlled before it causes obstruction and damage to the pancreatic tissue. One such study was recently reported in the November 28 issue of the World Journal of Gastroenterology because of its significance in pancreatic diseases.
In an attempt to understand the initiating event in stone formation in chronic pancreatitis, Dr. Chandak and his group initiated this study. Protein plug formation is an important primary event in the final stone formation and hence some proteins must be increased in their concentration in the pancreatic juice. Lithostathine (encoded by reg1 gene) has been isolated as a major protein component from stones of alcoholic chronic pancreatitis patients, and has been found to be 2 to 3 times less abundant in the pancreatic juice of chronic pancreatitis patients than in controls. Although the exact function of reg1 protein is not clear, it has been proposed to regulate the process of stone formation.