A Comparative Study of the Isoenzymes of Mammalian a-Amylase

Abstract

Both agar and acrylamide gel were used for the separation of a-amylase isoenzymes of serum, urine, saliva, and solid tissues from human, rabbit, horse, cat, dog, and pig. A detailed study of total amylase activities and of tissue distributions was made: there was marked variation from tissue to tissue and from species to species. The problems of the tissue origin of serum and urinary amylases are not yet completely solved.

Clinical enzymology of the dog and cat

“…Isoenzyme IV includes macroamylases, which are protein complexes composed of amylase bound to other proteins, such as immunoglobulins 2 . The pancreas has by far the highest activity of amylase in dogs and cats, 99 but serum amylase activity is decreased up to 50% after pancreatectomy, indicating that nonpancreatic sources contribute to serum amylase activity 100 . Nonpancreatic sources of serum amylase, at least in healthy animals, include intestinal amylase, macroamylase and possibly hepatic amylase 101,102 .…”