Alpha-amylase assay with use of a benzyl derivative of p-nitrophenyl alpha-maltopentaoside, BG5P.

p-Nitrophenyl O-(6-O-benzyl)-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(1----4)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl- (1----4)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(1----4)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-- --4)-alpha-D-glucopyranoside (BG5P) is hydrolyzed by both human salivary alpha-amylase (HSA) and human pancreatic alpha-amylase (HPA) to O-(6-O-benzyl)-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(1----4)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl- (1----4)-alpha-D-glucopyranose (BG3) and p-nitrophenyl alpha-maltoside (G2P). Glucoamylase and alpha-glucosidase cannot hydrolyze BG5P because of the modification of the OH group of the 6-position of the non-reducing-end glucose residue with the benzyl group. Taking advantage of these characteristics of the substrate, BG5P, we developed a method to assay the total alpha-amylase activity in human fluids using glucoamylase and alpha-glucosidase as the coupled enzymes. This method is simple and can be used as the standard method for routine clinical assays of alpha-amylase activity.