Indeed, we observed that induction of pancreatitis robustly increased plasma concentration of several inflammatory cytokines including IL1α (2.6-fold), IL1β (12.8-fold), VEGF (70.5-fold) TNFα (4.5-fold), and IL6 (585.2-fold) as well as stimulated p38 kinase activation in pancreatic tissue (Fig 1C,D). This evidence concerns the gene TNF and pancreatitis.