Table 1.

Increased numbers of PanIN lesions in pancreas of KC mice fed with control diet (CD) and high-fat calorie diet (HFCD).

	PanIN1a	PanIN1b	PanIN-2	PanIN-3	Normal ducts (ND)	Total	Acinar cell loss	Inflammation	Fibrosis	Pancreatitis score
WT/CD	0	0	0	0	100	100	0	0	0	0
WT/HF	0	0	0	0	100	100	0	1	0	1
KC/CD	15	8	2	0	75	100	1	1	1	3
KC/HF	30	20	6	4	40	100	2	2	1	5

Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues were sectioned (4 mm) and stained with H&E. Six to eight sections (100 µm apart) of pancreatic tissues were histologically evaluated by a gastrointestinal pathologist blinded to the experimental groups. Murine PanIN lesions (mPanIN) were classified according to histopathologic criteria as recommended previously (37). To quantify PanIN lesions, the total number of ductal lesions and their grade were determined. About 100 pancreatic ducts were analyzed for each animal. The relative proportion of each PanIN lesion to the overall number of analyzed ducts was recorded for each animal. For the assessment of pancreatic inflammation, full histologic cross sections of each pancreas were graded using a semi-quantitative scoring system, as previously described (38). Pancreatic inflammation was given an index score (0–12) reflecting the sum of scores for acinar loss, lobular inflammation, and fibrosis. Histologic quantification of PanIN lesions and ND in WT mice fed with CD or HFCD in percentage of total ducts were analyzed. Pancreatic inflammation was quantified histologically by grading (from 0 to 4) acinar cell loss, inflammatory cell infiltration, and extent of fibrosis, resulting in a cumulative pancreatic inflammation score (0–12). Details about the histologic grading were described previously (38).