Functional dyspepsia and the role of digestive enzymes supplement in its therapy

Abstract

Functional dyspepsia represents a heterogeneous group of gastrointestinal disorders marked by the presence of upper abdominal pain or discomfort. Reported prevalence of dyspepsia in the world varies from 11-30%. Basic Pathophysiology of functional dyspeptic symptoms is unclear and is considered to occur due to a combination of visceral hypersensitivity, gastric motor dysfunction and psychological factors. Strategies such as acid suppression, prokinetics and H. pylori eradication have been used with some success. Transient deficiency in digestive enzymes is one of the contributors for functional dyspepsia. The primary digestive enzymes are proteases, amylases and lipases. A commonly used therapeutic approach in its treatment is the use of oral enzymes supplementation therapy. Commercially, digestive enzymes are obtained from plant, animal and microbial sources. This review summarizes the pathophysiology of functional dyspepsia, different pharmacological approaches and focuses on the safety and efficacy of digestive enzymes in managing dyspepsia. Keywords including functional dyspepsia, digestive enzymes, lipase, diastase, papain, pepsin, trypsin and chymotrypsin were searched in databases such as Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, pharmacopoeia and textbooks.