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Importance of Amylase

Aug 8, 2011 | By M. Gideon Hoyle

Amylase is the general name used to identify certain types of a specialized protein molecule called an enzyme. Enzymes speed up the basic chemical reactions that support life. Amylase, in particular, supports the chemical reactions that allow you to digest carbohydrates. It also helps food manufacturers create high-fructose corn syrup and gives doctors a way to detect a pancreas disorder called pancreatitis.

Carbohydrate Digestion

During food digestion, a form of amylase called alpha-amylase is released by your salivary glands and your pancreas. In your mouth, salivary alpha-amylase begins the digestion of complex carbohydrates, or starches, by breaking them down into molecules of a relatively simple sugar called maltose. Maltose passes unaltered through your esophagus and stomach, then arrives in your small intestine. Here, a very closely related type of alpha-amylase from your pancreas breaks down any starches that remain after mouth digestion and makes more maltose.

Corn Syrup Production

Food manufacturers use alpha-amylase obtained from certain species of bacteria in the first step of high-fructose corn syrup production, according to Protein Data Bank. As with carbohydrate digestion in your body, alpha-amylase achieves it effects by breaking down starch --- in this case, from corn --- into smaller molecules. In the second step of corn syrup production, a related enzyme, called glucoamylase, is used to break these molecules down into individual units of a very simple form of sugar called glucose.

Pancreatitis Detection

Pancreatitis is an inflammation of your pancreas. When inflammation occurs in your pancreas, the gland releases abnormally high amounts of amylase into your bloodstream. Doctors can use this high amylase output to detect the potential presence of rapid, or acute, pancreatitis, as well as chronic pancreatitis, which lingers for extended periods. Increases in your blood amylase levels can also indicate the presence of other diseases, including intestinal blockages, gallbladder inflammation and cancers of the pancreas, lungs or ovaries. Abnormally low amylase levels can stem from conditions that include kidney disease, pancreatic cancer or other forms of pancreatic damage.

Considerations

After alpha-amylase does its job in digestion, carbohydrate breakdown is completed by other enzymes that live in the walls of your small intestine. After alpha-amylase and glucoamylase do their jobs in corn syrup production, food manufacturers complete the process with another enzyme, called glucose isomerase. Normal blood levels of amylase range from 23 to 85 U/L. In addition to illness, alterations in these levels can stem from use of medications that include aspirin, opiates, birth control pills and thiazide diuretics. Other forms of amylase include beta-amylase and gamma-amylase. Consult your doctor for more information on amylase's role in your health.

References

Article reviewed by Debbie Sprong Last updated on: Aug 8, 2011

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