Figure 1  .

Light micrographs of the pancreas from control and arginine treated rats. Rats were injected with saline (A), 4.5 g/kg arginine (B, C, and D) or with 3.0 g/kg arginine (E and F). After injection with 4.5 g/kg arginine, the pancreas showed interstitial oedema, mild cellular infiltrate, and vacuoles within acinar cells at 12 hours (B), and by 24 hours acinar necrosis involved whole lobules and the acinar architecture was largely disrupted (C). After 72 hours (D), the only remaining acinar remnants were tubular complexes surrounded by fibroblasts and inflammatory cells. Injection of 3.0 g/kg arginine caused less severe pancreatic damage with very mild oedema after 24 hours (E). After 72 hours (F), most of the acinar cells appeared normal but there were small focal areas of fibrosis and inflammation. Haematoxylin and eosin staining.