Abstract: Objective To explore the effect of D-galactose(D-gal)on murine pancreatic injury and its mechanism.Methods C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into Control group and D-gal model group(D-gal 120mg/kg/d for 42 days).On the 2nd day after drug injection completed,the peripheral blood were taken for measuring the level of fasting blood glucose(FBG) and fasting insulin(FINS);and then the organ index of pancreas were calculated by the ratio of pancreatic wet weight(mg) and mouse body weight(g);HE stain were routinely prepared to observe the histologic structure of pancreatic tissue;the transmission electron microscopy was used to analyze ultrastructural changes of pancreatic cells;the pancreatic frozen sections were prepared to test senescence-associated β-galactosidase(SA-β-Gal) and its relative absorbance(RA) of positively stained cells in the pancreatic islets; mmunohistochemistry assays to study advanced glycation end products(AGEs) and its RA; pancreas tissue homogenate was made to detect the content of superoxide dismutase(SOD), malonaldehyde(MDA) and total antioxidant capacity(T-AOC). Results In D-gal group mice, the FBG increased markedly(P<0.05) and FINS reduced; pancreas wet weight and organ index raised obviously(P<0.01); light microscopic structure of the pancreas presented without typical pathologic change, however the single nucleated cell’s area within the islet was increased significantly(P<0.05); the pancreas endocrine and exocrine cells were showed the ultrastructure damaged and lipofuscin formation increased; the RA of positive pancreas cells in SA-β-Gal staining increased obviously(P<0.05); the RA of AGEs positive regional expression markedly increased(P<0.01); the content of SOD and T-AOC decreased obviously(P<0.05), the content of MDA increased markedly(P<0.01). Conclusion Aging mice model replicated by D-gal can cause the pancreatic injury, its mechanisms may be closely related to oxidative injury of pancreatic cells caused by D-gal.

Key words: D-Galactose, aging model, pancreas, oxidative injury, mice