Pancreatic and salivary amylase determination using a short-chain chromogenic substrate (alpha-4-nitrophenyl-maltoheptaoside) and an amylase inhibitor.

We describe a simple method to determine serum amylase isoenzyme activity with alpha-4-nitrophenyl-maltoheptaoside as substrate and the use of an amylase inhibitor. Day-to-day reproducibility (CV) was 2% for total amylase, 3-5% for pancreatic and salivary amylase; within-day precision was 1% for total amylase, 1-4% for pancreatic and salivary amylase. The concentrations of total, pancreatic and salivary amylase were determined in 169 sera obtained from healthy adults (82 men and 87 women). Total, pancreatic and salivary amylase concentrations in males were respectively 184, 105 and 66; in females 210, 97 and 92 U/l (mean). Our method is simple and rapid; our results agree well with those of other authors, who have used electrophoretic or blue starch methods.