What Are Lipases?

Lipases are complex proteins, called enzymes, which break down fats into fatty acids. Without lipases, human beings are not able to get nourishment from the foods they eat. The body naturally produces enough lipases to break down foods so that the body's digestive system can easily process the food and change it into nourishing vitamins and minerals for the body. However, checking to make sure you have a healthy amount of lipases is a good idea, according to health care specialists at Medline Plus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Facts

• Because all the food that's consumed goes through the intestines, breaking down the food is essential for it to be absorbed by the intestines. Lipases are generally produced in the pancreas, but the enzymes also form in the mouth and stomach to aid in the breaking down process before food reaches the stomach. A healthy amount of lipases in the blood stream, and not the pancreas, range from 0 to 160 units per liter (U/L). However, if the amount increases, there may be serious pancreatic damage.

Lack of Lipases

• Generally, healthy people produce enough lipases in the pancreas to break down foods for absorption. People with too little lipases suffer cystic fibrosis, Crohn's disease or celiac disease, a disease which damages the lining of the small intestine. These individuals often do not have enough enzymes to get the nutrition from the foods they eat.

Lipase Blood Test

• The lipase blood test is done like other blood tests. A nurse draws blood with a needle from a patient's inner elbow or the back of the hand. The test checks not only for the amount of lipases in the pancreas, the test also tests whether the pancreas is diseased, injured or if the pancreatic duct --- a channel that carries enzymes from the pancreas to the small intestine --- is clogged or blocked somehow, according to a 2010 Kids Health article on lipase blood tests by Steven Dowshen, MD. If lipases show up in the blood sample, which means they are not contained in the pancreas, this indicates that the pancreas is damaged or diseased.

Sources

• Lipases come from three sources: the tongue, pancreas and from food itself. As of 2005, the dairy industry uses lipases to change, or modify, the fatty acids in types of cheeses, according to Nat Cooper, a researcher at Kennesaw State University. Because lipases work so well in the body to break down fats, researchers are trying to figure out ways the lipases can help break down other molecules. For example, researchers are developing household cleaners made with lipases to break down grease left in skillets, pans and sinks. Medical researchers are considering inhibiting the development of lipases for obesity treatment, as of 2005.