Diagnostic value of amino acid consumption test on exocrine pancreatic insufficiency

Table 1 Gallbladder volume change after taking reagent (mean ± SD, mL)

Time	Reagent A n = 3	Reagent B n = 6	Reagent C n = 6
0 min	17.22 ± 3.55	16.58 ± 3.04	14.97 ± 5.23
30 min	12.85 ± 6.34	13.78 ± 2.69	8.87 ± 2.10
45 min	12.12 ± 2.25a	13.27 ± 2.96	8.70 ± 1.13
60 min	9.68 ± 3.30a	6.71 ± 2.66a	12.03 ± 3.05
90 min	6.28 ± 3.51a	4.93 ± 1.89a	13.97 ± 9.06
120 min	12.27 ± 5.42	11.40 ± 4.79	15.47 ± 5.94

^aP ＜ 0.05 in comparison with 0 min in the same group. Analys is of variance: F_A = 4.2799 (F₄₅ = 8.8133, F₆₀ = 14.4901, F₉₀ = 28.7727), F_B = 12.1610 (F₆₀ = 35.8538, F₉₀ = 63.6581)

Table 2 The change of plasma amino acid level in O-AACT and I-AACT (mean ± SD, mmol/L)

AACT	Time (min)	Group 1 (n = 12)	Group 2 (n = 36)	Group 3 (n = 48)
I-AACT	0	4.23 ± 0.78	4.64 ± 1.49	3.91 ± 1.32
	45	3.13 ± 0.068a1	3.53 ± 1.49a6	3.65 ± 1.19
	60	2.68 ± 0.85a2	3.09 ± 1.21a7	3.49 ± 1.19
	90	3.67 ± 0.90	4.08 ± 1.47	3.66 ± 1.24
O-AACT	0	4.24 ± 1.19	4.67 ± 1.45	3.99 ± 1.26
	45	2.73 ± 0.99a3	4.05 ± 1.43	3.57 ± 1.24b1
	60	2.05 ± 0.94a4	3.01 ± 1.17a8	3.60 ± 1.20b2
	90	2.94 ± 1.12a5	3.84 ± 1.49a9	3.89 ± 1.29

^aP ＜ 0.05, in comparison with 0 min in the same group and the same method. Analysis of variance:

^a1F = 13.679,

^a2F = 21.45,

^a3F = 11.487,

^a4F = 25.095,

^a5F = 7.637,

^a6F = 9.938,

^a7F = 23.792,

^a8F = 28.622,

^a9F = 5.799. ^bP ＜ 0.05, in comparison with Group 1, analysis of variance:

^b1F = 4.746,

^b2F = 17.379.

Table 3 The number of cases in each group diagnosed as exocrine pa ncreatic insufficiency

%	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3
O-AACT	12	36	48
＞ 14.0%	11	30	13
14.0%	1	6	35a
I-AACT	20	76	80
＞ 14.0%	20	68	13
＞ 14.0%	0	8	67b
BT-PABA	20	76	80
＞ 45.0%	20	62	16
＞ 45.0%	0	14	64c

P ＜ 0.05 in comparison with groups 1 and 2. Chi-square test (χ²): a = 33.439, b = 102.208, c = 77.848.

Table 4 The diagnostic value of BT-PABA, O-AACT and I-AACT in exocrine pancreatic insufficiency

	Sensitivity (%)	Specificity (%)	Accuracy (%)
O-AACT	72.9	85.4	79.2
I-AACT	83.8	91.7	88.1
BT-PABA	80.0	85.4	83.0

Chi-square test: P ＞ 0.05.