Sensing of Digestive Enzymes—Diagnosis and Monitoring of Pancreatitis

Abstract

This paper is a comprehensive review of the techniques for the detection of pancreatic enzymes, which are common biochemical indicators of pancreatitis, including amylase, trypsin, chymotrypsin, elastase, and lipase. Pancreatitis is a disease with self-digestion due to the abnormal activation of digestive enzymes in the pancreas. Hospitalization is often required due to the lack of convenient therapeutic agents. The main recent results are reported in this review, especially the techniques that enable portability and Point-of-Care testing (POCT). This is because timely diagnosis at the early stage and avoiding recurrence after recovery are the keys to treatment. It is also important to reduce the rate of misdiagnosis and to avoid overtreatment. Various detection methods are discussed, with particular attention given to the implementation of chemical sensing and probe design. The new sensing technology for digestive enzymes makes it possible to perform early screening for pancreatitis in remote areas or in one’s own home.

Keywords

• pancreatitis
• sensors
• α-amylase
• trypsin
• lipase