Three methods compared for determination of pancreatic and salivary amylase activity in serum of cystic fibrosis patients.

We evaluated three methods for serum amylase (EC 3.2.1.1) isoenzymes to determine whether they are interchangeable and to test their ability to discriminate between cystic fibrosis patients with and without pancreatic insufficiency. One method involved salivary amylase inhibitor (O), and two were polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis separations differing in method of detection--either direct zymogram (G) or gel slicing followed by activity estimates per slice (W). Results for percentage pancreatic amylase differed significantly. Reproducibility for percentage pancreatic amylase was high, moderate, and low (r = 0.95, 0.53, and 0.02) for methods G, O, and W, respectively; moderate (r = 0.60) among the three methods; and moderate between pairs. Therefore, this result for a subject must be considered relative to the method used in its determination. The clinical diagnosis of pancreatic insufficiency was verified by 77.8%, 83.3%, and 94.4% correct classification rates for methods O, W, and G, respectively. Evidently, method G is the most efficient and may be the method of choice for measuring serum amylase isoenzymes in cystic fibrosis.