Diastatic Activity of Human Blood

The presence of diastase¹in human blood was first noted in 1846²and subsequently the enzyme was found to be a normal constituent of mammalian blood in general. In 1863 the enzyme was shown to be present also in urine, and its origin was traced to the blood.³Eventually diastase was detected in lymph,⁴in pericardial fluid4band in feces.⁵Hepatic bile is almost completely devoid of diastase,⁶but the enzyme can be detected in the bile when the diastase content of blood is greatly increased by ligation of the pancreatic ducts.⁷Bile from the common bile duct and the gallbladder may contain appreciable amounts of diastase as the result of pancreatic reflux.⁸Assertions that measurable amounts of diastase are present in the cerebrospinal fluid,⁹the liver and the kidneys¹⁰are open to doubt. In this laboratory it was not possible to detect diastase in the