Interpretation of Hyperamylasemia in Diabetic Coma

Abstract

Abstract In sera of patients with diabetic coma, amylase activity was markedly elevated and closely correlated with the activity of some lysosomal enzymes, including β-glucuronidase, N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase, and acid phosphatase. All these enzyme activities returned to normal with the normalization of glycemia. Activities of serum lipase, aspartate and alanine aminotransferases, aldolase, and lactate dehydrogenase were not changed. Since liver amylase, although primarily contained in microsomes, shows "latency" and is activated by several agents as are lysosomal enzymes, these findings might be regarded as a further evidence of a similarity between amylase and lysosomal enzymes, and make probable the hypothesis that a process of "activation" occurring in liver might be the cause of increased amylase activity in serum as well as of lysosomal enzymes.