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CHAPTER 4
The Pancreas of the Syrian Golden Hamster
The usefulness and significance of any animal
model of human disease requires certain
anatomic, morphologic and biologic similarities.
To understand the clinical value of the SGH as a
model for pancreatic cancer in terms of etiology,
prognosis, early detection and treatment, it was
essential to study the pancreas of this species in
more detail because the pancreas is the most
complex structure of the body, and its function
and response to endogenous and exogenous
factors may vary among species.
Literature on the anatomy, histology, and
physiology of the SGH’s pancreas was scant and
fragmentary. Therefore, it seemed essential to
explore the basic characteristics of the pancreas
in this species. It should be stressed that the new
data gathered recently on the anatomy 86 ,
histology and physiology of the hamster
pancreas 86-88, 89-91 are still fragmentary and need
further work.
The pancreas of the adult SGH is a delicately
lobulated, yellowish-white or pink organ which lies
below the liver and diaphragm and projects
between the 11th thoracic and third or fourth
lumbal vertebrae transversally between the
10
duodenum and left flank in projection of the left
kidney. It weighs approximately 0.46 g in an eight
to 21 week-old animal and contributes to about
0.4% to 0.5% of the total body weight. The
hamster pancreas is well defined in contrast to
that of other rodents such as rats and mice, in
which the pancreas represents a diffuse tissue
distributed in the mesentery. Unlike those of other
mammals, the hamster pancreas shows three
definite parts (lobes) resembling a horizontally
positioned λ (Fig. 2). The short segment, the
duodenal lobe (weighing approximately 0.07 g
and measuring 2.8 x 0.4 cm, which corresponds
to about 12% of the total pancreas), lays retroduodenally
in a craniocaudal direction and can be
seen by displacement of the duodenum. This lobe
is joined to the irregularly shaped head of the
pancreas (weighing on the average 0.08 g), which
is located mediodorsally to the duodenal loop.
Two long segments extend from the head region
ventrally and dorsally to the stomach and left
abdomen. The dorsal segment, the splenic lobe
(which weighs 0.2 g, measures 3.6 x 0.8 cm, and
contributes to about 40% of the total pancreas
weight), is completely covered and can be
reached after cranial transposition of the stomach.
Figure 2. Position of the pancreas in the abdomen and its overall gross anatomy