Trypsin, RIA

Differential diagnosis in patients presenting with "acute abdomen" is often difficult, particularly when the symptoms are due to pancreatic disease.

Some means of assessing pancreatic function in these circumstances is desirable, and tests should also be suitable for monitoring the progress of the condition.

In searching for a diagnostic marker, it is necessary to examine the characteristic products of the exocrine pancreas.

In practice, these are the various pancreatic enzymes principally, amylase, lipase and trypsin which are involved in the intestinal digestion of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. 

Of these enzymes, only trypsin is produced solely by the pancreas and its measurement may thus be considered to provide an ideal basis for a specific test of pancreatic function.