Finally, patients with pancreatic exocrine insufficiency may require supplements of fat-soluble vitamins. Pancreatic enzyme secretion increases Forskolin supplier rapidly in response to a meal up to 6-fold above interdigestive levels and reaches maximal values within 20–60 min postprandially.12 Enzyme output decreases thereafter to a 3- to 4-fold sustained increase, which is maintained for 3–4 h

before returning to interdigestive levels. This postprandial pattern means that a maximal output of 3000–6000 IU/min lipase and a mean output of 2000–4000 IU/min lipase occur after ingestion of a normal mixed meal in healthy subjects.12 Enzyme substitution therapy should be able to mimic this pattern in situations of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency. None of the commercially available enzyme preparations is able to deliver more than 360 000 IU of active lipase into the duodenal lumen, that are secreted by the pancreas under physiological conditions. Nevertheless, due to the effect of gastric lipase and to the residual pancreatic exocrine secretion, fat digestion and absorption improves

significantly, and may even normalize, in most patients with pancreatic exocrine insufficiency under the available therapies. To prevent steatorrhea in these patients, enzyme preparations should be able to deliver at least 30 000 IU of active lipase into the duodenum together with meals.13,14 This goal can be only achieved by

administration of the modern enteric-coated preparations in form of Resminostat minimicrospheres, due to factors KPT-330 research buy like gastric acid secretion, nonparallel gastric emptying of nutrients and enzyme preparations, and proteolytic inactivation of released lipase. Based on the conceptions that exogenous enzymes should exert their action on the ingested meal, and gastric emptying of the enzymes should occur in parallel with nutrients to optimize digestion and absorption, it has been generally accepted that pancreatic enzyme preparations should be administered together with meals and snacks. The effect of the administration schedule on the efficacy of oral pancreatic enzymes for the treatment of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency was evaluated in a prospective, randomized, open, comparative, three-way, crossover study including 24 consecutive chronic pancreatitis patients with fat maldigestion secondary to pancreatic exocrine insufficiency.15 The efficacy of the enzyme substitution therapy appears to be higher when enzymes are administered either portioned along meals or just after meals compared with the intake just before meals.15 Pancreatic enzymes in form of enteric-coated minimicrospheres are considered as the most elaborated commercially available enzyme preparations.