Activities of gamma-glutamyl transferase, 5'-nucleotidase and alkaline phosphatase in human duodenal aspirate.

Duodenal aspirates were obtained before, during, and after stimulation with secretin-cholecystokinin in 26 patients whose pancreatic function was classified as normal, moderately reduced, or severely reduced. The activities of gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and 5'-nucleotidase (5NT) in the aggregated duodenal aspirate collected 10-40 min after stimulation showed marked overlap between the functional groups and lacked diagnostic value. For all three enzymes, the peak response occurred later in the severely impaired group than in those with normal pancreatic function. The three enzymes showed significant positive correlations with each other, and were negatively correlated with the output of trypsin and chymotrypsin and, in contrast with these proteolytic enzymes which were reduced in pancreatic disease, GGT, ALP, and 5NT all tended to increase with pancreatic disease. Contrary to a previous report, GGT did not serve as a useful index of pancreatic cancer in this study.