[Serum immunoreactive trypsin in chronic pancreatitis patients]

The serum immunoreactive trypsin (determined by RIA-gnost Trypsin of the firm Höchst) was studied in 30 patients with chronic pancreatitis: 16 patients in a stage of exacerbation and 14 patients with clinical remission. Via pancreozymin-secretin test pancreatic exocrine insufficiency was established in all patients: 24 patients with moderate disorders and 6 patients with total secretory deficiency. The results were compared with a control group of 13 healthy subjects. In the mixed group of patients with chronic pancreatitis, serum immunoreactive trypsin did not differ from that of the control group (p greater than 0,05). The values of immunoreactive trypsin in serum, in the patients with chronic pancreatitis in a stage of exacerbation, are higher, with a statistical significance (p less than 0,001). In chronic pancreatitis, in a stage of remission, the level of serum immunoreactive trypsin is significantly lower as compared with the control group (p less than 0,01). The determination of serum immunoreactive trypsin could be used as a test in the diagnostics of recurrences of chronic pancreatitis but it is not a sure marker for the presence of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency.