Investigation of fecal pancreatic elastase-1 levels in type 2 diabetic patients.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Due to the close anatomical position between the endocrine system cells and the exocrine system cells in the pancreas, some interactions could be expected in these two different types of cells. This possible exocrine dysfunction may cause difficulties in the management of blood glucose level because of secondary malabsorption which may have resulted from the exocrine dysfunction. Taking this possibility into account, we aimed to investigate the exocrine function of the pancreas in 32 diabetic patients and in 12 healthy control subjects in this study. METHODS: Fecal pancreatic elastase-1 (PE1), which has a high sensitivity and specificity, was measured in serum samples by ELISA specifically for this purpose. RESULTS: It was found that the exocrine function declined in 28% of type 2 diabetic patients, while there was no decrease in the control subjects. However, there were no significant correlations between pancreatic elastase levels and the duration of diabetes, glycemic control, or consumption of alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that evaluation of the exocrine function in diabetic patients might be useful for better management of diabetic patients.