The concentration of
alpha-amylase in blood rose significantly (Student's t-test) in seven normovolemic healthy subjects after they were given 30 g/m2 body surface area of hydroxyethyl
starch 350/0.60 (HES 350/0.60, a new volemic
colloid). Concomitant with elevated activity in blood,
amylase clearance (Cam) was markedly reduced, even though clearance of
creatinine (Ccr) was within normal limits. Similar findings were observed for one male subject given 500 ml (30 g) of HES 450/0.70.
Sephadex G-100 gel elution profiles of serum recovered from one male subject after the infusion of HES 350/0.60 revealed the presence of a
macroamylase complex eluted with the void volume. Small
macroamylase complexes were also detected in urine voided from the same subject. By 24 to 48 hours postinjection, the high activity of
alpha-amylase in blood was returning to basal levels, and this was observed to parallel the reduction of
macroamylase complexes both serum and urine. The
macroamylasemia induced by HES 350/0.60 represents the nonpathologic formation of large
colloid-
enzyme complexes not easily filtered at the renal glomerulus, and should be differentiated clinically from disease- or
drug-induced
hyperamylasemia.