Intestinal Enterokinase Deficiency Workup

Updated: Nov 17, 2015
  • Author: Agostino Nocerino, MD, PhD; Chief Editor: Carmen Cuffari, MD  more...
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Workup

Laboratory Studies

See the list below:

  • Determine proteolytic activity in patients with intestinal enterokinase deficiency before and after activation with exogenous enterokinase in a duodenal juice sample collected during a pancreozymin-secretin test.
  • Perform column chromatography of duodenal juice before and after activation with exogenous enterokinase.
  • Trypsin activity in duodenal fluid is low or absent; activity returns after the addition of enterokinase. Lipase and amylase activity levels are within reference ranges.
  • Assay enterokinase activity in duodenal juice and intestinal mucosa.
  • Enterokinase activity in duodenal fluid and mucosal homogenate is less than 10% of age-matched control values.
  • The human proenteropeptidase complementary DNA (cDNA) has been cloned, and the gene has been mapped. [8]