Assimilation of wheat starch in patients with chronic pancreatitis. Positive effect of enzyme replacement

Pancreatic insufficiency due to chronic pancreatitis may lead to symptomatic malabsorption of both starch and fat. The absorption capacity of wheat starch has not been studied previously in patients with chronic pancreatitis, although this carbohydrate is a quantitatively important component of the Western diet. We studied the absorption of wheat starch and the effect of pancreatic enzyme substitution in seven patients with chronic pancreatitis and steathorrea. The malabsorption was determined from hydrogen breath tests with lactulose standards as reference. Without enzyme substitution, wheat starch (50 g) was absorbed to a lesser extent than in healthy controls (p less than 0.05). The mouth-to-cecum transit time was prolonged and correlated positively to the fat excretion before substitution with pancreatic enzymes (sigma = 1). The enzyme substitution increased the absorption of wheat starch to values seen in healthy controls (p less than 0.05) and reduced the mouth-to-cecum transit time by 19.8%.