Pancreatic enzymic activities of commercial pancreatic enzyme preparations incubated in human small intestinal juice.

The activities of amylase, lipase, phospholipase and trypsin of twelve commercial pancreatic enzyme preparations were measured under identical conditions. Human small intestinal juice was chosen as incubation medium. A wide variation of enzymatic activities was found in preparations in tablet form contrary to preparations in granulated form. A prerequisite for a successful therapy is enzymically potent pancreatic extracts with high enzyme content per table, capsule or recommended dose of granulated preparation. Therefore, some preparations seem to be preferable to others for clinical purposes.