Antioxidant supplementation in chronic pancreatitis: Current evidence an overview

Chronic pancreatitis is a complex disease, with a 4-fold increase in mortality and has a colossal personal, social and economic impact. Pain is its debilitating manifestation that remains a serious medical challenge with limited treatment options. Great efforts have been focused on investigating the mechanisms of chronic pain with the main objective being to find the ways to improve quality of life in patients. There is evidence suggesting that oxidative stress is one of the factors responsible for pancreatic inflammation, which results in pain. The interest has been directed to the nutrients possessing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in attempt to diminish oxidative pancreatic damage and improve the debilitating manifestations. This review will focus on the accumulated evidence and recent progress in understanding the role of the nutritional components in the management of chronic pancreatitis.