Alpha-Amylase
Amylase is a digestive enzyme that helps break down carbohydrates. It is amylase that gives carbohydrate foods (potatoes, bread) a slightly sweet flavor without added sugar.
Alpha-amylase is secreted in the salivary glands (S type) in the mouth, where digestion begins, and in the pancreas (P type). Determination of amylase in urine is primarily necessary to diagnose pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas).
Since the largest source of amylase in the body is the pancreas, in its diseases there is a massive release of the enzyme into the blood. Under normal conditions, this substance leaves the gland through the ducts into the duodenum, mixed with food and excreted from the body. When the pancreas is inflamed, the pancreas swells and the output pathways are compressed. Thus, the concentration of the enzyme can increase more than 10 times!
Since the largest source of amylase in the body is the pancreas, in its diseases there is a massive release of the enzyme into the blood. Under normal conditions, this substance leaves the gland through the ducts into the duodenum, mixed with food and eliminated from the body. When the pancreas is inflamed, the pancreas swells and the output pathways are compressed. Thus, the concentration of the enzyme can increase more than 10 times!
Detection of amylase activity in urine has a number of advantages over blood tests. With urine is excreted mainly P-type amylase, thus, “screened out” useless for diagnosis of the fraction of amylase excreted from the salivary glands. Accurate diagnosis (as there are diseases that occur under the mask of pancreatitis) requires calculation of amylase-creatinine clearance by the ratio of amylase and creatinine in the blood and in the urine. This index will be elevated exclusively when the pancreas is inflamed.