Introduction

Chronic pancreatitis（CP）is an irreversible condition of the pancreas characterized by chronic progressive pancreatic inflammation and fibrosis，resulting in the failure of exocrine and endocrine function.Of all pancreatic diseases，CP is the most complicated，a condition with increasing incidence but a relatively short research history.Because of its uncertain and complicated pathogenesis，there is no effective diagnostic test or treatment measure.Thus，CP still exerts an adverse impact on the quality of life of those affected.Herein，we briefly review the history of basic and clinical research into chronic pancreatitis.(https://www.daowen.com)

The first description of the pancreas has been attributed to Herophilus of Chalcedon（circa 300 B.C.），who named the organ“pancreas”（from the Greek Πáν（pan）meaning all and κρέας（kreas）meaning flesh or meat）（Fitzgerald 1980）.In his De Humani Corporis Fabrica（1543），Andreas Vesalius described the pancreas as a“glandulous organ or kannelly body of substance growing in the near panicle of the caule（omentum）”（Singer 1957）.During the seventeenth century，the anatomy of the pancreas began to be explored when the pancreatic duct was discovered by J.C.Wirsung in 1642.The duodenal papilla was described both by J.K.Brunner in 1683 and A.Vater in 1750（Sachs 1993）.In the nineteenth century，W.Balser was the first to report the presence of fatty necrosis in acute pancreatitis in 1882，while pancreatic autodigestion（“the pancreas succumbs to its own digestive properties”）was proposed by H.Chiari in 1896（Chiari 1896）.