Amylase is an enzyme produced in the pancreas (pancreas) and in the salivary glands of the oral cavity. Salivary amylase accounts for the larger proportion (60%). The task of amylase is the cleavage of sugar compounds: α-amylase cleaves the α(1-4)-glycoside bond of amylose. This results in dextrins and from them maltose, glucose and branched oligosaccharides.
The process
Material needed
- Blood serum
- Urine (spontaneous/collected)
Preparation of the patient
- Not necessary
Disruptive factors
- Opioid analgesics, sulfonamides and thiazide diuretics can cause falsely high levels
Normal values
| Standard values in U/l | |
| Blood serum | < 100 |
| Spontaneous urine | < 460 |
| Collection urine | < 270 |
Indications
- Pancreatitis, acute/chronic (diagnosis and follow-up).
- Acute abdomen – acute abdominal pain with guarding, which may be due to many different conditions.
- Acute ethanol intoxication (alcohol poisoning) (circa 10% of cases).
- Pancreatic cancer
- Parotitis (parotid gland inflammation) (diagnosis and follow-up).
- Condition after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography (ERCP) – after 2-3 days.
Interpretation
Interpretation of increased values
- Alcoholism
- Acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI; intestinal infarction, mesenteric artery occlusion, mesenteric infarction, mesenteric occlusive disease, angina abdominalis)
- Cholecystitis (gallbladder inflammation).
- Gastroenteritis (gastrointestinal flu)
- Hepatitis (liver inflammation) – viral
- Ileus (intestinal obstruction)
- Malignant (malignant) neoplasms, especially in the gastrointestinal tract and lungs.
- Crohn’s disease – chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); usually progresses in relapses and can affect the entire digestive tract; characteristic is the segmental affection of the intestinal mucosa (intestinal mucosa), that is, several sections of the intestine may be affected, which are separated from each other by healthy sections.
- Renal insufficiency (kidney weakness).
- Ovarian tumor (ovarian tumor), pedunculated.
- Pancreatic carcinoma (pancreatic cancer).
- Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) – acute/chronic.
- Parotid hypertrophy – enlargement of the parotid gland.
- Parotitis (inflammation of the parotid gland)
- Sarcoidosis (synonyms: Boeck’s disease; Schaumann-Besnier’s disease) – systemic disease of connective tissue with granuloma formation.
- Tubal rupture – rupture of the fallopian tube.
- Typhoid fever – infectious disease transmitted by the bacterium Salmonella typhi.
- Trauma (injury) in the area of the upper abdomen.
- Ulcus duodeni (duodenal ulcer)
Other notes
- In addition, serum elastase and lipase should also be determined.
- In exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, fecal elastase should also be determined.