THE ENZYMIC ACTIVITY OF THE DUODENAL CONTENTS FOLLOWING THE INGESTION OF PANCREATIN

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that a pancreatin containing the three active ferments trypsin, steapsin and amylopsin, properly administered by mouth, on reaching the duodenum will retain a considerable proportion of its original enzymic activity. Long 1 has shown experimentally on dogs with Pawlow pouches that the amylopsin of a pancreatic extract is quickly reduced in activity or destroyed by the hydrochloric acid of the gastric secretion. He also noted that trypsin retained a large percentage of its activity if protected by food proteins from the digestive action of the hydrochloric acid-pepsin combination. From this he concluded that trypsin, thus protected, would unquestionably reach the duodenum and there exert its specific digestive action. There are no available studies as to the fate of lipase administered by mouth. The studies of Long did not include an examination of the duodenal contents for pancreatic extract that had passed on into