Value of genetic testing in the management of pancreatitis

[...]environmental factors appeared to play a limited role in pancreatic diseases. [...]understanding pancreatic disease has lagged behind advances in other diseases until new genetic methods became available. Recent studies also demonstrated that the pancreatic acinar cells are exquisitely sensitive to bile acids. 9 Exposure of the luminal surface of the acinar cell to bile acids causes a marked increase in intracellular calcium, and therefore may also cause acute pancreatitis through a calcium dependent mechanism, as described below.