DIAGNOSTIC USEFULNESS OF SERUM LIPASE ACTIVITY MEASURED BY ENZYME IMMUNOASSAY IN PANCREATIC DISEASES

To evaluate the diagnostic usefulness of serum immunoreactive lipase (IRL), serum lipase was determined in 41 controls and 79 patients with various disease using an enzyme immunoassay kit. Serum level of IRL well correlated with turbidimetric values and precision, sensitivity and specificity in the assay were sufficiently high. The normal range of serum IRL was from 7 to 59μg/L (M±2SD, median 20.5). Serum IRL was elevated in 7 of 8 patients with acute pancreatitis, 8 of 24 with chronic pancreatitis and 12 of 18 with pancreatic cancer. The IRL was low in 8 of 24 patients with chronic pancreatitis, which coincided with advanced exocrine insufficiency. Elevated serum IRL was rare in nonpancreatic diseases (gallstone 2/7, liver cirrhosis 1/8, peptic ulcer 0/7), except chronic renal failure (6/7). Serum IRL determination is useful for diagnosis in pancreatic diseases.