ABSTRACT

Elemental diets, in which the nitrogenous component is present as synthetic amino acids or protein hydrolysate, have been found to be beneficial in the treatment of intestinal disease, in particular, acute ischemic enteropathy, and Crohn's disease. The proposition that elemental diets, especially the substitution of intact protein with protein hydrolysates or amino acids, reduce pancreatic enzyme secretion is controversial. The different responses in humans compared with of rats suggests that a species difference may exist regarding the effect of substitution of intact protein with amino acids or protein hydrolysates on pancreatic enzyme secretion. Luminal protease activities from pancreatic secretion are a function of the pancreatic enzyme secretion rate and the rate of intraluminal protease inactivation, considered to be mainly due to autodigestion. The reduction in intraluminal protease activities in rats fed amino acid test meals occurred via two distinct mechanisms: by a decrease in pancreatic enzyme secretion and by an apparent increase in the rate of trypsin and chymotrypsin.