Digestive aids, enzymes

Enzymes Thrombolytic agents, digestive aids, debriding agents (i.e. cleansing of wounds)... 

Enzymes are used for a variety of therapeutic purposes, the most significant of which are listed in Table 12.8. A number of specific examples have already been discussed in detail within this chapter, including tPA, urokinase, and factor IXa. The additional therapeutic enzymes now become the focus of the remainder of the chapter. Although a limited number of polymer-degrading enzymes (used as digestive aids) are given orally, most enzymes are administered intravenously. 

A number of enzymes may be used as digestive aids (Table 12.9). In some instances, a single enzymatic activity is utilized, whereas other preparations contain multiple enzyme activities. These enzyme preparations may be used to supplement normal digestive activity, or to confer upon an individual a new digestive capability. 

Table 12.9 Enzymes that are used as digestive aids...

The use of enzymes as digestive aids is only applied under specific medical circumstances. Some medical conditions (e.g. cystic fibrosis) can result in compromised digestive function due to insufficient production/secretion of endogenous digestive enzymes. Digestive enzyme preparations are often formulated in powder (particularly tablet) form, and are recommended to be taken orally immediately prior to or during meals. As the product never enters the blood... 

The functional properties are divided according to a completely different pattern. Enzymic properties are functional ones because the action of the catalyst is, per se, a nonnutri-tional one. In certain cases, when enzymes are added to foods as in vivo digestion aids, they might be considered metabolic enhancers. Otherwise, when used externally to prepare products possessing more utile chemical and physical characteristics, the digestive nature is indubitably a functional property. It must be noted, however, that enzyme functionality usually is not studied in conjunction with the other functionalities, but is a distinct and separate branch of biochemistry involved in functional evaluation. Theoretically, a more scientific division of the functional properties could be made into molecular and non-molecular ones. (Enzymic properties would then be a division of the former.) However, traditional lines already have been set and the proposed division is closer to present research d i sci piines. 

Papain—a plant protease derived from the papaya fruit. The enzyme is used in digestive aids, wound debridement, tooth-cleaning and. most importantly, as a meat tenderizer. 

PROTEASE. A proteolytic enzyme that weakens or breaks the peptide linkages in proteins, They include some of the more widely known enzymes such as pepsin, trypsin, ficin, bromelm, papain, and rennin. Being water soluble they solubilize proteins and are commercially used for meat tendenzers, bread baking, and digestive aids. 

Hydrolytic enzymes Pancreatin Hydrolysis of starch (amylase), fat (lipase), and protein (protease) Porcine pancreas Digestive aid... 

Q14 Cystic fibrosis patients are usually prescribed pancreatic enzymes to aid digestion. Which enzymes are likely to be included in these preparations ... 

Cellulases have been limited to a few specific applications, but economic and ecological factors have increased interest in their potential value. They have been used mainly as a component in digestive aids with other hydrolytic enzymes (Table VII). Toyama reported (62) in 1968 that commercial cellulase preparations were exported from Japan at a rate of 500 kg per month. 

Antihistamines Enzymes and digestive aids Antineoplastic agents... 

Donning your safety glasses, make up two solutions of just less than a quarter of a teaspoon of cornstarch (1 milliliter) in one cup (240 milliliters) of water. Crush a tablet of a digestive aid that is meant to be taken before meals to reduce intestinal gas. These pills should contain the enzyme alpha-galactosidase, which will digest starch. Check the label to make sure. Add the crushed tablet to one of the cups of cornstarch solution. Let the glasses sit for about an hour and then add a drop of iodine tincture iodine to each. Iodine is a well-known indicator for starch because iodine forms a lovely blue-colored complex with starch. The solution without the enzyme will turn a violet-blue color, indicating the presence of starch. The solution to which the enzyme was added should remain the brown color of the iodine tincture. If there is a blue color, it will be much weaker. This demonstrates that the starch has been broken down. 

Finally, enzyme isolation from microorganisms allows the application of biocatalysts in many other fields and products such as laundry detergents (with the washing machine as reactor), food (cheese, bread), drinks (juice, beer, wine), and feed (enzymes as digestion aid). The food and feed industries in particular replace more and more additives by enzymes, i.e. eatable and digestible catalysts, that result in comparable or even better functional products. 

Pancreatin, a pancreatic enzyme, is indicated in exocrine pancreatic secretion insufficiency, as a digestive aid in cystic fibrosis, steatorrhea, and for other disorders of fat metabolism secondary to insufficient pancreatic enzymes. 

THERA CAT Enzyme (proteolytic). Debriding agent digestive aid. Has been used to prevent adhesions as anthelmintic (Nematodes). 

Numerous attempts were made to utilize these three enzyme preparations for practical use. Cellulase preparations are being so far employed abundantly as an important member of combined digestive aids. These... 

Three other plant enzymes, papain, bromelain, and to a lesser extent ficin, have found acceptance in the food industry as proteases. Papain is derived from the latex of the fruit, leaves, and trunk of Carica papaya, and bromelain from the fruit and stems of pineapple plants. These enzymes are used to prevent the hazing of beer when chilled (Chill-Proofing) by modifying the protein. Other applications for these plant proteases are in meat tenderizers and digestive aids. Ficin from the latex of Ficus carica is used to a much lower extent, perhaps because of its marked action on native protein and difficult handling. Proteases from Aspergillus Jlavus-oryzae, and to a lesser extent from Bacillus subtilis, have been used to replace and supplement these plant proteases in all applications, but papain continues to have the widest acceptance. 

Pancreatic preparations have been widely used as digestive aids, because they contain proteases, amylase and lipase. They have been prescribed for patients who have pancreatic disorders or after removal of the pancreas. The various activities present in the pancreatic preparations can be duplicated by in vitro methods from blends of microbial enzymes derived from Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus flavus-oryzae and Aspergillus niger. Cellulase derived from Aspergillus niger is often added to the microbial preparation. The pancreatic preparations still hold the major share of the market, but this could be a useful application for the right combination of microbial enzymes. 

Bierau H, Hinton RJ, Lyddiatt A (2(X)1) Direct process integration of cell disruption and fluidised bed adsorption in the recovery of labile microbial enzymes. Bioseparation l(Kl-3) 73-85 Bilton GL (1984) Enzyme-containing digestive aid compositions. US Patent 4447412, 5 August 1984... 

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