title: Fecal immunoreactive lipase: a new tubeless pancreatic function test.
abstract: Immunoreactive lipase (IRL) was measured in 368 stool samples from 231 individuals by means of a new enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay technic, to test its validity as an indicator of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Ninety-seven stool samples from 64 healthy volunteers showed a logarithmically normal distribution of IRL values and a median IRL concentration of 17 micrograms/g (range, 2.75-117.3 micrograms/g) with a statistically calculated lower normal limit of 4 micrograms/g. In 100 stool samples from patients with chronic pancreatitis and proven steatorrhea the median IRL concentration of 6 micrograms/g (range, 0.002-107 micrograms/g) was significantly lower than that of normal controls and of 52 stool samples from patients with chronic pancreatitis without steatorrhea (IRL, 40 micrograms/g; range, 0.55-302 micrograms/g), 45 stool samples from 23 patients with celiac disease (IRL, 96 micrograms/g; range, 6.05-563 micrograms/g), and 30 stool samples from 26 patients with chronic diarrhea (IRL, 57 micrograms/g; range, 4.2-573 micrograms/g). It is concluded that fecal IRL is a promising new enzyme test with low diagnostic sensitivity (34%) but excellent diagnostic specificity (98%) in chronic pancreatitis and for diagnostic study of chronic diarrheal disorders. In contrast to fecal chymotrypsin, the test results are unaffected by pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Muench
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ammann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004796:Clinical Enzyme Tests; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D010188:Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005243:Feces / Q000201:enzymology*; D006801:Humans; D008049:Lipase / Q000032:analysis*; D010186:Pancreatic Function Tests; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D008049:Lipase