[Methodological and first clinical investigations using a new pancreatic function test]

Abstract

The synthetic peptide N-benzoyl-L-tyrosyl-p-aminobenzoic acid was tested in vitro and in vivo for its chymotrypsin specificity. Comparative kinetic tests with bovine chymotrypsin and human pancreatic juice, as well as clearance tests with p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), made this peptide seem suitable for an indirect pancreatic-function test. A testing scheme was set up for clinical use which has yielded promising preliminary results. While in 31 out of 32 healthy subjects there were normal PABA excretion rates in the urine collected over six hours, the test correlated well in 15 out of 16 cases of definite pancreatic disorder. The percentage dose excretion of PABA in the urine collected over six hours gave good correlations with the one-hour amount of chymotrypsin in the pancreozymin-secretin-test and with the concentration of chymotrypsin in the feces. These preliminary results make this test appear an appropriate screening method for pancreatopathy.