Serum lipase activity in chronic renal failure.

In a total of 110 patients with chronic renal failure, 46.4% of the cases had a serum lipase activity exceeding 200 IU, the upper limit of the norm. The degree of reduction of renal function is positively correlated to the frequency of hyperlipasaemia as well as to the elevation of the lipase activity in serum. At a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of less than 20 ml/min, hyperlipasaemia in chronic glomerulonephritis was found in 75%, significantly more frequent than in chronic pyelonephritis (46.8%). The frequency and degree of hyperlipasaemia was not influenced by haemodialysis. Significantly elevated serum lipase activities were also observed in experimentally produced chronic renal failure in the rat.