Elastase
The pancreatic elastase 1 fecal test is used to diagnose insufficiencies of the pancreas that result in diseases such as:
- Cystic fibrosis
- Chronic pancreatitis
- Pancreatic cancer
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Gallstones
- Diabetes, Type 1
- Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome
In many of these conditions, there is often diarrhea, weight loss, undigested food in the stool, and pain in the abdomen. If the condition continues for a longer period of time, then low bone density may be found.
This test is an excellent biomarker for how well the pancreas is working because the enzyme pancreatic elastase I is not broken down by what happens in the intestinal tract. The Elastase I protein is found concentrated in the stool, five times higher than what is found in pancreatic juice.
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What does it mean if your Elastase result is too high?
There are no problems recorded in medical literature for high levels of Pancreatic Elastase I.
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What does it mean if your Elastase result is too low?
Elastase is a pancreatic enzyme that digests and degrades a number of proteins. A finding of low elastase in a formed stool specimen is an indicator of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency.
Moderate pancreatic insufficiency is defined at 100-200 μg/mL, and severe pancreatic insufficiency as <100 μg/mL.
Fecal elastase can be artefactually low due to fluid dilution effects in a loose/watery stool sample. Check the
reported consistency of the stool specimen.
Doctors find that the following conditions are associated with low levels of pancreatic elastase:
- Cystic fibrosis
- Chronic pancreatitis
- Pancreatic cancer
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Gallstones
- Diabetes, Type 1
- Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome
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