Lipase is an enzyme secreted by pancreas. It helps in digestion of dietary fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. It breaks down dietary triglycerides into fatty acids. Lipase appears together with amylase in our blood.

Normally, blood contains very little amount of lipase. When the pancreatic cells are damaged during pancreatitis, a high amount of lipase is released into the bloodstream, which increases the lipase concentration in blood. In case of severe pancreatitis, an increase in lipase level is followed by an elevated amylase concentration in the blood. In case of severe pancreatitis, the lipase level may rise 5-10 times higher than the maximum reference value and can last for 5-7 days.

The lipase test is a type of blood test performed to calculate the amount of lipase in the blood serum. The blood test for lipase is often accompanied by an amylase test. This test helps doctors to diagnose various pancreatic diseases, such as pancreatitis, inflammation of the pancreas. This test is recommended if you are suffering from pancreatic disorder like loss of appetite, nausea, fever, acute abdominal pain, mumps, and peptic ulcers. In addition to the pancreatic diseases, lipase test is also used for diagnosing cystic fibrosis, celiac disease, and Crohn’s disease.

There is no standard value to indicate the low or high level of lipase. However, less than 200units/Liter is thought to be the normal lipase level. The test can be affected if a person is taking anticogulants, cholinergics, and narcotics type of medications.