Urinary levels of activated trypsin in whole-organ pancreas transplant patients with duodenocystostomies.

Urinary levels of trypsinogen and active trypsin were measured in 34 urine samples from 14 patients an average of 23 months following whole organ pancreas transplantation and duodenocystostomy. Timed urine specimens obtained 30 min and 90 min following a time zero void were collected from 5 patients in an effort to define the kinetics of trypsinogen secretion and activation. Total urinary protein and urinary pH were correlated with urinary levels of trypsin and trypsinogen. Twenty-one specimens from 8 normal volunteers and a single specimen from a pancreas transplant patient with a duodenoenterostomy served as controls. Activated trypsin was present in 33 of 34 specimens from 13 of the 14 transplant patients. The average total trypsin activity in all samples was 84.4 micrograms/ml urine (+/- SE 9.6). Trypsinogen was present in 13 of 34 samples, from 7 of 14 patients. The average trypsinogen concentration of all 34 samples was 9.6 +/- 6.2 micrograms/ml. No trypsin or trypsinogen activity was identified in any control sample. In the 5 patients undergoing timed urine collections total trypsin increased an average of 1.3-fold at 30 min and 1.1-fold at 90 min relative to time zero. Urinary trypsinogen increased an average of 7.1-fold at 30 min and 3.1-fold at 90 min following the initial void. Urinary pH and total urinary protein failed to show a significant correlation with urinary levels of total trypsin or trypsinogen. These data suggest that trypsinogen is rapidly converted to active trypsin following secretion into the bladder, resulting in the high urinary trypsin levels that were detected in the majority of patients.