Distribution, turnover, and mechanism of renal excretion of amylase in the baboon

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Abstract

Pure amylase was isolated from pancreata and parotid glands of the baboon, an animal which has a serum amylase level and renal clearance of amylase (CAm) similar to man. After bolus injection, both pancreatic and salivary amylase rapidly disappeared from the serum in a monoexponential fashion with a mean serum half-time of approximately 83 min. Only about 24% of the amylase cleared from the serum appeared in the urine indicating that the majority of amylase was removed from the serum by an extraurinary mechanism. The CAm by the kidney was constant over a wide range of serum amylase levels and the ratio of CAm/CIn, which averaged 3.0%, was not influenced by mannitol diuresis. This suggests that the renal excretion of amylase results from glomerular filtration without appreciable tubular reabsorption. Pancreatic amylase was consistently cleared more rapidly by the kidney than was the baboon's endogenous amylase while salivary amylase was consistently cleared less rapidly than endogenous amylase.

Authors

William C. Duane, Roger Frerichs, Michael D. Levitt