Trypsin and chymotrypsin in stool

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Digestive system organs

This test detects the presence of trypsin and chymotrypsin in stool.

Stool - trypsin and chymotrypsin

There are many ways to collect the samples. Your health care provider will instruct you on how to collect the stool.

You can catch the stool on plastic wrap that is loosely placed over the toilet bowl and held in place by the toilet seat. Then put the sample in a clean container. One type of test kit supplies a special tissue that you use to collect the sample, then put the sample in a clean container.

Infants and young children:

For children wearing diapers, you can line the diaper with plastic wrap. The plastic wrap should be positioned to prevent the mixing of urine and stool.

A drop of emulsified stool is placed on a thin layer of gelatin. If trypsin or chymotrypsin are present, the gelatin will be digested, which will produce a clearing of the gelatin.

Your health care provider will provide you with the necessary supplies to collect the stool.

Trypsin and chymotrypsin are proteolytic enzymes released from the pancreas during normal digestion. These tests are simple but indirect ways of finding out if you have a decrease in pancreas function.

When the pancreas does not produce sufficient, normal amounts of trypsin and chymotrypsin, smaller-than-normal amounts of these enzymes are detected in the stool. These tests are most often done in young children suspected of having cystic fibrosis.

Cystic fibrosis causes the formation of mucous plugs that can obstruct the pancreatic ducts which empty into the small intestines.

Review Date: 04/28/2005
Reviewed By: Christian Stone, M.D., Division of Gastroenterology, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.