Pancreatic Digestive Enzyme Dispersion into Human Organs Outside the Gastrointestinal Tract

Our recent evidence indicates that pancreatic digestive enzymes, known for breaking down biomolecules in food, also play roles in degenerative processes in acute and chronic conditions, including aging. After synthesis in the pancreas, these catalytic enzymes are released into the small intestine, where they become activated and are highly concentrated. Recent findings show their presence in organs beyond the digestive tract, although their concentrations and distribution across different organs in the healthy human body remain unclear. To gain an initial, more systematic insight, we utilized data from the Human Protein Atlas, analyzing protein levels in immunohistochemically labeled tissue sections and RNA expression in organs across the body. Our findings reveal that while enzymes, such as trypsin, chymotrypsin, elastase, and amylase, are primarily produced in the pancreas, they are also present in organs like the lung, heart, kidney, brain, and others at approximately 1% of pancreatic levels. Meanwhile, serine protease inhibitors are mainly expressed in the liver but are also found in the intestine, lung, and other organs. These results suggest that pancreatic digestive enzymes, although primarily synthesized in the pancreas, are dispersed into healthy tissues and vital organs. Their function in these organs, particularly in disease, remains unexplored, and their enzymatic activity in human tissues has yet to be measured.