EPI * Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency

From Kathry (Sophie's mom)
Thanks Kathy!!!

Pancrease Enzyme Reactions:

Optimal pH ranges for enzymes is: (1) lipase optimal at pH 8, (2) amylase optimal at pH 6.7 - 7.0, (3) protease (assuming this is trypsin &/or chymotrypsin) optimal pH 7.8 - 8.7 (noted as 8 in Wikepedia for trypsin). See link below.

 Effects of pH (see pancreatic enzymes): http://www.worthington-biochem.com/introBiochem/effectspH.html

Optimal temp for enzymes in general is body temp (37-37.5 deg C), see first temp link below. The second link about temp notes that enzymes can start to denature above 40 deg C. Also the second link shows that when the temp goes above 40 deg C the enzyme activity starts to drop off. Wikepedia notes that optimal temp for trypsin activity is 37 deg C.

Effects of Temperature: 

http://www.worthington-biochem.com/introBiochem/tempEffects.html

"fat digestion is completed in the gut in the presence of bile salts but it should be possible to achieve more digestion of the carbohydrates and proteins in the bowl before feeding.  Plus, if the dog has lower levels of enzymes pre-digestion becomes even more important and undigested food can lead to SIBO.  If the gut is already irritated then the more digested the food the better.  This may also explain why the tough cases do better on raw diets.  Suspect it will be easier for enzymes to digest raw vs cooked meat."

"Sophie had been on a course of antibitoics for more than 60 days (metronidazole followed by tylan) and her poops were still not completely firm until I increased her enzymes.  Plus, I worried about the risk of having her on antibiotics too long with the potential of developing a bacterial strain resistant to those two antibiotics. "

"My husband and I both have graduate degrees in Organic Synthetic Chemisty (Medicinal Chemists).  I am also trained as a Biochemist with mutliple years of experience doing Pharmacology and Enzymology.  We are holders of multiple industrial patents.  So from our perspective this enzyme reaction is critical for these dogs.  Theorectically, this should be a catalytic reaction.  This is what happens in the gut.  I suspect that we are using a lot more enzyme in the bowls relative to what a healthy dog is excreting into the gut.  We just have to try to simulate as closely as possible the enzymatic reaction conditions in the bowl.  Thus, physiological conditions are best for these enzymatic reactions.

Other interesting Enzyme activity links:

(from Olesia)

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/E/Enzymes.html

http://www.biology-questions-and-answers.com/enzyme-activity.html

Thanks Olesia for highlighting this...

Kathy... it is good information and i  like to keep track of good information inour FILES