Comparing enzymes - unit confusion

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 5/30/2004 5:50:03 PM Eastern Standard Time,

weinert@... writes:

> Is there a good place to look to understand enzyme units better?

Honestly, I would just get the Houston's and be done with it. So many people

do better on them than Kirkman's. If they don't help you can always try the

others.

Nell

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Me again. Still trying to compare Houston and Kirkman enzymes.

I looked at this site:

www.enzymestuff.com

It recommends FCC units.

Only a few of the Houston's enzymes and none of the Kirkman's seem to

be in these units.

I did discover that 150 FCCLU = 1,267 LU for lipase.

Is there a good place to look to understand enzyme units better? I

realize there are other factors to consider, but I would like to

understand how the ingredients compare.

Thanks,

[Guest guest]

Email Houston directly or call and ask questions.

Pam

> Hi,

>

> Me again. Still trying to compare Houston and Kirkman enzymes.

>

> I looked at this site:

>

> www.enzymestuff.com

>

> It recommends FCC units.

>

> Only a few of the Houston's enzymes and none of the Kirkman's seem

to

> be in these units.

>

> I did discover that 150 FCCLU = 1,267 LU for lipase.

>

> Is there a good place to look to understand enzyme units better? I

> realize there are other factors to consider, but I would like to

> understand how the ingredients compare.

>

> Thanks,

>

>

[Guest guest]

>>>> It recommends FCC units.

Yes, you need FCC units. Otherwise it is a free-for-all and you don't

know if there are any active enzymes in the product at all.

>>>> Only a few of the Houston's enzymes and none of the Kirkman's

seem to be in these units.

Which ones are you interested in? I think they are there but maybe

aren't that obvious.

>>>>Is there a good place to look to understand enzyme units better?

I realize there are other factors to consider, but I would like to

> understand how the ingredients compare.

You are wise to do so. In the Enzymes for Autism book there is a list

in the Reference section (pages 318-321). However, here is a quick

list here. I have added every conversion I could find from every

source I come across.

========================

For microbial and plant derived enzymes:

1 FCC LU = 8.4 LU (units for lipase)

1000 FIP = 10,000 LU (units for lipase)

1 GAL = 2 AGSU (units for alpha-galactose)

10 GDU (gelatin digesting units) = 15 MCU (milk clotting units)

30 DU = 1 AG (units for amylase)

100 BTU = 1,956,522 FCC PU (units for protease)

100 HU = 88 HUT (units for protease)

160 SU = more than 20 IAU (units for sucrase)

chymotrypsin 1 mg = 1000 USP units

trypsin 1 mg – 25,000 USP units

papain 1 mg = 6000 USP units

========================

For pancreatic (or animal) derived enzymes:

The U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) helped by establishing a standard for the

pancreatic enzymes (animal-derived) by which you can compare other

enzyme supplements, such as plant- and microbial-derived. This

standard is called `X' and contains an equivalent of:

25 USP units of amylase,

2 USP units of lipase, and

25 USP units of proteolytic enzymes

If a supplement contains 5X pancreatic enzymes, it would provide five

times the amount of each of the enzymes in this standard, or 125 USP

amylase, 10 USP lipase, and 123 USP protease. There is no direct

conversion between USP units and FCC units, because they are produced

from different sources, using different methods.

========================

A footnote:

If you have a product that lists one enzyme with multiple units, this

means that the one enzyme was assayed by different methods, and all

the measure types are listed for you. It does NOT mean that you add

all the measurements together and thus get one enzyme in several

different quantities.

For example, Tyler Similase lists:

Protease I, II, III, IV at

30,000 USP

48,750 PC

82,000 HUT

This means the protease listed was measured in USP, PC, and HUT

units. You get one quantity of protease and pick the measurement you

prefer for evaluation for your convenience. It does not mean you get

three different quantities of protease: 30,000 USP AND 48,750 PC AND

82,000 HUT.

If you run across any units or 'zymes you can't figure out, please

post those and I will see if it can't be located somewhere.

.