[Effect of pellet size of a pancreas enzyme preparation on duodenal lipolytic activity].

Release of lipolytic activity from enteric coated microspheres occurs after emptying from the stomach. Gastric emptying of the spheres is strongly influenced by their size, as several studies indicate. In the present study 10 patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency received two types of enzyme substitution (Kreon) and were investigated using the cholesterol-14C-octanoate breath test. Preparation A with microspheres of the size 1.0-1.2 mm and B with the size 1.8-2.0 mm. All patients showed an obvious delay in intraduodenal lipolytic activity using the 1.8-2.0 mm preparation. In 3 out of 10 patients lipolytic activity increased much more early using the 1.0-1.2 mm preparation, in the other patients differences were not as clear. The effectiveness of enzyme substitution was 25% greater for the 1.0-1.2 mm preparation for the time of testing (mean values, p less than 0.10).