Autoimmunity and chronic pancreatitis: a concealed relationship.

Chronic pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease well known for its epidemiological and clinical aspects, but still obscure as to its aetiology and pathogenesis [1]. Alcohol has been identified to be the cause of the disease, since the largest number of patients suffering from chronic pancreatitis were found to have consumed large quantities of wine or spirits over a long period of time [2, 3, 4]. The French school furnished the mechanism by...