Electrophoretic separation, detection, and variation of amylase isoenzymes

An electrophoretic technique for demonstrating amylase isoenzymes is described. After separation in an agarose gel containing a linear polyacrylamide polymer to reduce electroendosmotic flow, the amylase fractions are visualized by incubation with a commercially available dye-starch polymer (Phadebas Amylase Test). The technique detects amylase fractions with activities below 10 U/l. Some characteristic changes in such diseases as acute and chronic pancreatitis, cystic fibrosis of the pancreas, macroamylasemia and inherited variants as well as after maxillofacial surgery are mentioned.