---

Pepsin

Pepsin is a proteolytic enzyme which is the principal digestive enzyme of gastric juice. It controls the degradation of proteins to proteoses and peptones. Pepsin is obtained from hogs' stomachs by maceration in water acidulated with hydrochloric acid under frequent stirring for several days followed by salting out with sodium chloride or equivalent reagent. The stomach secretes gastric juice which is primarily an aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid and pepsin. The acid serves to chemically break down food particles, to activate pepsin, to stimulate pancreatic secretion and to aid iron absorption. Pepsin, a protein produced by the gastric glands, enzymatically digests protein to proteoses and peptones in acid medium, resulting in the further liquefaction of food and reduction of food particle size. The pepsin is precipitated and floats to the surface from which it is recovered, purified and dried. Digestive disorders resulting in the malabsorption of food components may arise from many causes. Cystic fibrosis, chronic pancreatitis, and pancreatic resection may lead to exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, which in turn is characterized by severe steatorrhea, or fecal fat excretion. Stomach cancer and resultant gastrectomy may also cause the disruption of pancreatic function, by reducing the acid secretion necessary for stimulation of pancreatic enzyme production. Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency is commonly treated by the administration of pancreatic enzyme supplements, often in the form of enteric-coated preparations which resist degradation by stomach acid and pepsin. Other substances such as bile salts, additional proteolytic enzymes, cellulose, hemicellulose and simethicone may be included in varying amounts when the additional goal of treating postprandial abdominal distress symptoms is desired. Human pepsin which is one of the active ingredients of this invention is a known enzyme and may be obtained from human gastric cells, human gastric juices, human urine, etc. by appropriately combining general methods commonly employed for purifying proteins, for example, salting out, adsorption chromatography using inorganic adsorbents, ion exchange chromatography using ion exchange resins, gel chromatography with a molecular sieve effect, etc. It may also be mass-produced by cultivation of cells obtained by fusion of pepsin-producing cells such as human gastric cells with cancer cells, or by genetic engineering procedures, for example, by preparing complementary DNA by employing messenger RNA of human pepsin as a mold and using a reverse transcriptase and then incorporating this DNA into Escherichia Coli, etc. Pepsin is available as commercial preparations mixed with lactose.

---