Urinary a-Amylase Level in Patients with Hypertension

Amylase is a digestive enzyme which is secreted from salivary gland and pancreas; it cleaves cooked starch in the mouth, cooked and uncooked starch in the upper part of intestine mainly in jejunum. The final product of digestion is three glucose units then to glucose monosaccharide.

There are 3 types of amylase enzymes which are: (α, β & γ) Amylase.

The renal clearance of amylase enzyme ranges from 1 to 3 mL/min.

Hypertension is an increase in the force which the blood places on blood vessels as it moves through the body. Hypertension in most of cases is clinically asymptomatic but it is one of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease and causes progressive damage to kidney in a long term process which leads to excessive excretion of low molecular weight compounds like albumin and amylase in urine.

Assay of alpha urinary amylase level and using it as a better reliable indicator for glomerular damage.

Our study is based on measuring the absorbance for samples by using spectrophotometer device; we collect 92 urine samples from different hypertensive patients, and then calculate the concentration of amylase level by using fixed rate colorimetric method:

Δ E= A₂-A₁

Alpha amylase (U/L) = Δ E x 765

approximately all samples show an in increase in amylase enzyme level above 450U/L.

Amylase can serve as a better indicator of glomerular damage.