Abstract
Hydrolysis of dietary triglycerides begins int he stomach through an acid-stable lipase. After a prolonged controversy this preduodenal lipase has been recently demonstrated to be exclusively secreted by the fundus in the adult human (1). We have studied the gastric lipase (GL) all along the pre-and post-natal development and its change in children with gastritis or pancreatic insufficiency.
Material: 4 fetal stomachs (7,9,11, and 18 weeks of gestation) and 1 whole upper GI tract (from the tongue to the pylorus) from a 27 weeks foetus have been studied as well as 57 fundic biopsies from children (0 to 17 years old). 38 biopsies were obtained from 36 children without any gastric damage; 9 from children with an endoscopicaly obvious gastritis, 10 from CF patients with severe pancreatic insufficiency.
Methods: GL has been measured according to Gargouri et al (2)
Results: Prenatal development
During the first weeks of life GL level was around 1000 u/g and reached its adult level (between 2000 and 5000 u/g) at the end of the first month. It was then stable all during childhood. CF patients had a normal CL activity in the fundic mucosa. Finally, 2 out of 9 children with gastritis had an absence of GL activity, whereas it was normal in the 7 others.
Conclusion: GL appears around the 11th weeks of gestation and increases slowly during pre- and post-natal development. It seems to be always localised to the fundus without any lingual localization. Enzymatic activity is “mature” from the birth on, and does not vary in relation to pancreatic insufficiency. It is only rarely impaired during gastritis.
(1) H.MOREAU et al. Gastroenterology, 1988;95:1221-26
(2) Y.GAGOURi et al.Gastroenterology,1986;91:919-25
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Sarles, J., Moreau, H. & Verger, R. HUMAN GASTRIC LIPASE: ONTOGENY AND VARIATIONS IN CHILDREN. Pediatr Res 26, 277 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198909000-00081
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198909000-00081
