Centranthus ruber (L.) DC. and Tropaeolum majus L.: Phytochemical Profile, In Vitro Anti-Denaturation Effects and Lipase Inhibitory Activity of Two Ornamental Plants Traditionally Used as Herbal Remedies.

Ornamental plants often gain relevance not only for their decorative use, but also as a source of phytochemicals with interesting healing properties. Herein, spontaneous Centranthus ruber (L.) DC. and Tropaeolum majus L., mainly used as ornamental species but also traditionally consumed and used in popular medicine, were investigated. The aerial parts were extracted with methanol trough maceration, and resultant crude extracts were partitioned using solvents with increasing polarity. As previous studies mostly dealt with the phenolic content of these species, the phytochemical investigation mainly focused on nonpolar constituents, detected with GC-MS. The total phenolic and flavonoid content was also verified, and HPTLC analyses were performed. In order to explore the potential antiarthritic and anti-obesity properties, extracts and their fractions were evaluated for their anti-denaturation effects, with the use of the BSA assay, and for their ability to inhibit pancreatic lipase. The antioxidant properties and the inhibitory activity on the NO production were verified, as well. Almost all the extracts and fractions demonstrated good inhibitory effects on NO production. The n-hexane and dichloromethane fractions from T. majus, as well as the n-hexane fraction from C. ruber, were effective in protecting the protein from heat-induced denaturation (IC50 = 154.0 ± 1.9, 270.8 ± 2.3 and 450.1 ± 15.5 µg/mL, respectively). The dichloromethane fractions from both raw extracts were also effective in inhibiting pancreatic lipase, with IC50 values equal to 2.23 ± 0.02 mg/mL (for C. ruber sample), and 2.05 ± 0.02 mg/mL (T. majus). Obtained results support the traditional use of these species for their beneficial health properties and suggest that investigated plant species could be potential sources of novel antiarthritic and anti-obesity agents.

Polysaccharides from mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaf prevents obesity by inhibiting pancreatic lipase in high-fat diet induced mice.

Pancreatic lipase (PL) is a key enzyme related to the prevention and treatment of obesity. The aim of the study was to evaluate the inhibitory effects of mulberry leaf polysaccharides (MLP) on PL and possible interaction mechanism, inhibition on lipid accumulation in vitro and in vivo. The results revealed that MLP had obvious inhibitory effects on PL (P < 0.05). The interaction of MLP-PL complexes was in a spontaneous way driven by enthalpy, and hydrogen bonds were the main factors in the binding. MLP could significantly inhibit the development of lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells (P < 0.05). Furthermore, consumption of high-fat diet containing MLP showed protective effects on liver and adipose tissue damages in mice, and inhibited the lipid absorption in digestive tract. MLP also significantly reduced the increased expression level of pancreatic digestive enzymes (P < 0.05). The study indicated that the anti-obesity effect of MLP might be caused by inhibition of lipid absorption via reducing PL activity.

In vitro and in vivo inhibitory activity of taxifolin on three digestive enzymes.

The inhibitory activity of taxifolin on three digestive enzymes were investigated in both vitro and vivo. Taxifolin exhibited inhibitory effect on α-glucosidase, α-amylase and pancreatic lipase with IC50 values of 0.038, 0.647 and 0.993 mg/mL, respectively. Inhibitory kinetics indicated that taxifolin was more like a competitive inhibitor of α-glucosidase and α-amylase, while it was a non-competitive inhibitor of pancreatic lipase. The binding of taxifolin caused the quenching of intrinsic fluorescence intensity of enzymes, and the binding constant (lgKa) and the number of binding site (n) were further calculated through fluorescence titration. The values of lgKa were in the range of 4.93-6.65, and the values of n were all close to 1. Molecular docking indicated that taxifolin could interact with α-glucosidase and α-amylase through many kinds of secondary interaction, such as hydrogen bond, π-π stack, etc. In vivo study revealed that pre-administration with taxifolin can significantly improve the postprandial hyperglycemia in rat. Furthermore, its can also decrease triglyceride absorption through the inhibition of pancreatic lipase.

α-Glucosidase and Pancreatic Lipase Inhibitory Activities of Diterpenes from Indian Mango Ginger (Curcuma amada Roxb.) and Its Derivatives.

Enzymatic inhibitions of crude extracts and their constituents from Zingiberaceae against both rat intestinal α-glucosidase and porcine pancreatic lipase were investigated. Structure-activity relationships using their derivatives were also investigated. The rhizomes extract of mango ginger, Curcuma amada showed remarkable inhibitory activity in the screening test. Two natural labdane diterpenes 1 and 2 and a drimane sesquiterpene 3 were major constituents isolated from this hexane extract. Among them, (E)-labda-8(17),12-diene-15,16-dial (1) was the most prominent compound and showed inhibitory activity against both α-glucosidase and lipase. Derivatives 4-10 from compound 1 were prepared and evaluated using inhibitory assays with these enzymes. The reduced derivative 4 maintained α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, but had decreased pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity compared with parent compound 1. Other tested derivatives of compound 1, including acetates 5-7 and oxidative derivatives 8-10, had very weak α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. Most of these compounds showed moderate pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity. However, only sesquiterpene albicanal (3) showed drastically decreased pancreatic lipase activity compared with 1. These findings suggested that molecular size was essential for enzymatic inhibitory activities of these compounds. These results demonstrated that mango ginger may be useful for the prevention of obesity and being overweight.

Separation and Lipid Inhibition Effects of a Novel Decapeptide from Chlorella pyenoidose.

A novel lipid inhibition peptide Leu-Leu-Val-Val-Try-Pro-Trp-Thr-Gln-Arg (PP1) (MW 1274.53 Da) was obtained from Chlorella pyenoidose using enzymatic hydrolysis, gel filtration chromatography, and LC-MS/MS. Its lipid inhibition effects indicated that the synthetic peptide PP1 exhibits a good inhibitory effect against porcine pancreatic lipase (PL) (47.95%) at 200 µg/mL, which could be attributed to its hydrogen binding into catalytic sites of PL (Ser153, Asp177, and His 264) by docking analysis. Furthermore, in 3T3-L1 cells, the synthetic PP1 remarkedly decreased the accumulation of intracellular triacylglycerol (27.9%, 600 µg/mL), which carried a similar consequence as the positive drug simvastatin (24.1%, 10 µM). Western blot revealed that PP1 inhibited the lipid accumulation and fatty acid synthesis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes in two pathways, primarily: nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) pathway (C/EBPα, SREBP-1c, AMPKα) and AMPK signaling pathway (SREBP-1c, PPARγ, AMPKα). In short, these results support that PP1 can be used as a potential agent against obesity.

Pharmacokinetics of Sodium Selenite Administered Orally in Blood and Tissues of Selenium-Deficient Ducklings.

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element for humans and animals. Appropriate amount of Se in the body can prevent a variety of diseases. However, Se deficiency leads to pathological changes such as skeletal muscle necrosis and pancreatic atrophy in livestock and poultry. Se preparations are widely used in the prevention and treatment of Se-deficient disease, but there is no unified standard of medication, and the safe dose range of Se is narrow. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the pharmacokinetics of low-Se ducklings and to formulate drug administration schemes. In the present study, eighty 1-day-old healthy ducklings were randomly selected, and fed with low-Se diet to 30 days of age (blood Se content ≦ 0.03 µg/mL). After the low Se duckling models were duplicated, blood samples and tissues of livers, pancreases, and thigh muscles were collected at different time points to detect Se content following oral administration of 0.1% sodium selenite (Na2SeO3) at 0.8 mg/kg BW, and the pharmacokinetics parameters were automatically calculated by MCPKP program. The results showed that pharmacokinetics characteristics of Na2SeO3 in blood, livers, and pancreases of ducklings were consistent with the first-order absorption and two-compartment open models; in thigh muscles was consistent with the first-order absorption and one compartment with a lag time open model. The primary kinetic parameters of Na2SeO3 in blood: the half-life of absorption was 5.9026 h, the time of reaching maximum concentration was 23.03 h, and the half-life of elimination was 131.13 h. The absorption of Na2SeO3 in livers was the quickest, pancreases and thigh muscles were in order of becoming slower, and the elimination of Na2SeO3 in thigh muscles was the quickest, livers and pancreases were in order of becoming slower. The administration parameters of multi-dose were calculated according to the kinetic of single-dose: loading dose (D*) was 1.7046 mg/kg BW, maintenance dose (D0) was 0.8 mg/kg BW, and dosing interval (τ) was 120 h. The results of this study can supplement and improve the theoretical system of Se metabolic kinetics, and provide experimental basis for the prevention and treatment of Se deficiency disease by rational drug use.

Use of an In-line Digestive Cartridge With Enteral Nutrition Improves the Weight Trajectory of 2 Children With Cystic Fibrosis Complicated by Another Medical Diagnosis.

This clinical observation describes the enteral nutrition (EN) management of 2 toddlers at high nutrition risk due to cystic fibrosis (CF), exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, and comorbid medical conditions. The first case report describes a boy with severe malabsorption after intestinal resection. The second case report reviews a boy with CF and neuroblastoma. When pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy with EN was not effective or appropriate, use of an in-line digestive cartridge was initiated. While using the digestive cartridge, both children showed improvements in their anthropometric measures. This observation reviews the nutrition management throughout their clinical course and describes the use of a digestive cartridge with EN.

Interactive Segmentation of Pancreases in Abdominal Computed Tomography Images and Its Evaluation Based on Segmentation Accuracy and Interaction Costs.

The present paper proposed an interactive segmentation method of pancreases in abdominal computed tomography (CT) images based on the anatomical knowledge of medical doctors and the statistical information of pancreas shapes. This segmentation method consisted of two phases: training and testing. In the training phase, pancreas regions were manually extracted from sample CT images for training, and then a probabilistic atlas (PA) was constructed from the extracted regions. In the testing phase, a medical doctor selected seed voxels for a pancreas and background in a CT image for testing by use of our graphical user interface system. The homography transformation was used to fit the PA to the seeds. The graph cut technique whose data term was weighted by the transformed PA was applied to the test image. The seed selection, the atlas transformation, and the graph cut were executed iteratively. This doctor-in-the-loop segmentation method was applied to actual abdominal CT images of fifteen cases. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method was more accurate and effective than the conventional graph cut.

Novel ciliate lipases for enzyme replacement during exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency caused by inflammation or pancreatic tumors results in nutrient malfunction by a lack of digestive enzymes and neutralization compounds. Despite satisfactory clinical results with current enzyme therapies, a normalization of fat absorption in patients is rare. An individualized therapy is required that includes high dosage of enzymatic units, usage of enteric coating, and addition of gastric proton pump inhibitors. The key goal to improve this therapy is to identify digestive enzymes with high activity and stability in the gastrointestinal tract. METHODS: We cloned and analyzed three novel ciliate lipases derived from Tetrahymena thermophila. Using highly precise pH-STAT-titration and colorimetric methods, we determined stability and lipolytic activity under physiological conditions in comparison with commercially available porcine and fungal digestive enzyme preparations. We measured from pH 2.0 to 9.0, with different bile salts concentrations, and substrates such as olive oil and fat derived from pig diet. RESULTS: Ciliate lipases CL-120, CL-130, and CL-230 showed activities up to 220-fold higher than Creon, pancreatin standard, and rizolipase Nortase within a pH range from pH 2.0 to 9.0. They are highly active in the presence of bile salts and complex pig diet substrate, and more stable after incubation in human gastric juice compared with porcine pancreatic lipase and rizolipase. CONCLUSIONS: The newly cloned and characterized lipases fulfilled all requirements for high activity under physiological conditions. These novel enzymes are therefore promising candidates for an improved enzyme replacement therapy for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.

Evaluation of the recombinant turkey pancreatic lipase phospholipase activity: A monolayer study.

Classical lipases are well known for being enzymes hydrolysing triacylglycérols as substrate, except the porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL) which was able to hydrolyze phosphatidylcholine. Amino acid sequence alignments revealed that Valine 260 residue in PPL lid, postulated to be responsible for the PPL phospholipase activity, was present in the Turkey pancreatic lipase (TPL). The importance of Val 260 in the phospholipase activities expression has been reported. To confirm this fact, Val 260 was mutated to Alanine in the TPL lid. Mutated protein has conserved its phospholipase activity as well as the non mutated TPL. Therefore, Valine 260 residue in the lid is not involved in the pancreatic lipases phospholipase activity. The rTPL phospholipase activity was also studied using monolayer technique. This avian pancreatic lipase has shown phospholipase activity toward differently charged phospholipids. The highest phospholipase activity was found on phosphatidylglycerol (negatively charged substrate) at a surface pressure of 20mN/m, but when a zwitterionic substrate was used (DLPC), a lower activity was found at a surface pressure of 10mN/m. However, it is worth noticing that the TPL phospholipase activity is about 100 fold lower than its lipase activity. GC chromatography analyses of the released fatty acids from the hydrolysis of 1,2-POPC have shown that rTPL hydrolyses esters bonds at the sn-1 as well as the sn-2 position of phospholipids. Hence, rTPL shows a low phospholipase activity in comparison to its activity toward triacylglycerols.

Pancreatic enzymes prepared in bicarbonate solution for administration through enteral feeding tubes.

PURPOSE: The dissolution and physicochemical effects of preparing delayed-release pancrelipase in a sodium bicarbonate solution before administration via an enteral feeding tube were studied. METHODS: Several doses of four delayed-release pancrelipase products (Creon, Pancreaze, Ultresa, Zenpep) were studied. The intact contents of pancrelipase capsules was added to 20 mL of 8.4% sodium bicarbonate solution to dissolve the enteric coating and liberate the enzymes into solution. In addition to visual observation, the pH, relative particle count, and osmolality of each admixture were assessed immediately and 5, 10, 20, and 30 minutes after admixture preparation. RESULTS: The only dose of Creon that was completely dissolved at 30 minutes was the 24,000 lipase unit dose. None of the doses of Pancreaze and only the lowest dose (23,000 lipase units) of Ultresa were completely dissolved at 30 minutes. However, Zenpep doses of 20,000 and 40,000 lipase units were completely dissolved 30 minutes after preparation. Higher doses of each pancrelipase product did not completely dissolve. The baseline pH of the solvent decreased slightly at the first few time points after pancrelipase was added. The relative particle count increased over time and with increasing doses. The osmolality of the mixtures varied by pancrelipase product. CONCLUSION: The dissolution of enteric coated granules in sodium bicarbonate varied with the pancrelipase product and dose. Zenpep 40,000 lipase units was found to most efficiently dissolve in sodium bicarbonate, possibly due to the consistent size of the product's granules and visibly thinner and uniform enteric coating.

Molecular interactions between (-)-epigallocatechin gallate analogs and pancreatic lipase.

The molecular interactions between pancreatic lipase (PL) and four tea polyphenols (EGCG analogs), like (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), (-)-gallocatechin gallate (GCG), (-)-epicatechin gallate (ECG), and (-)-epigallocatechin (EC), were studied from PL activity, conformation, kinetics and thermodynamics. It was observed that EGCG analogs inhibited PL activity, and their inhibitory rates decreased by the order of EGCG>GCG>ECG>EC. PL activity at first decreased rapidly and then slowly with the increase of EGCG analogs concentrations. α-Helix content of PL secondary structure decreased dependent on EGCG analogs concentration by the order of EGCG>GCG>ECG>EC. EGCG, ECG, and EC could quench PL fluorescence both dynamically and statically, while GCG only quenched statically. EGCG analogs would induce PL self-assembly into complexes and the hydrodynamic radii of the complexes possessed a close relationship with the inhibitory rates. Kinetics analysis showed that EGCG analogs non-competitively inhibited PL activity and did not bind to PL catalytic site. DSC measurement revealed that EGCG analogs decreased the transition midpoint temperature of PL enzyme, suggesting that these compounds reduced PL enzyme thermostability. In vitro renaturation through urea solution indicated that interactions between PL and EGCG analogs were weak and non-covalent.

Pancreatic lipase inhibitory gallotannins from Galla Rhois with inhibitory effects on adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells.

Activity-guided isolation of a methanolic extract of Galla Rhois using pancreatic lipase and 3T3-L1 adipocytes led to the isolation of seven phenolic compounds: protoaphin-fb (1), 2-O-digalloyl-1,3,4,6-tetra-O-galloyl-ß-D-glucose (2), 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-ß-D-glucose (3), 1,2,4,6-tetra-O-galloyl-ß-D-glucose (4), 3-hydroxy-5-methoxy-phenol 1-O-ß-D-glucoside (5), methylgallate (6), and gallic acid (7). Their structures were established on the basis of NMR and MS spectroscopic data interpretation. All isolates were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on pancreatic lipase, and compounds 1-5 exhibited potent inhibitory effects on this enzyme, with IC50 values ranging from 30.6 ± 2.4 to 3.5 ± 0.5 mM. In addition, the highly galloylated compound 2 was also found to induce potent inhibition of adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells.

Lipid classes and fatty acid regiodistribution in triacylglycerols of seed oils of two Sambucus species (S. nigra L. and S. ebulus L.).

The oil content and fatty acid composition of total lipids (TLs) and main lipid classes (NLs- neutral and PLs- polar lipids) in seeds of two wild Sambucus species (S. nigra and S. ebulus) from Transylvania (Romania) were determined by capillary gas chromatography (GC-MS). In addition, the positional distribution of fatty acids in seed triacylglycerols (TAGs) was determined by hydrolysis with pancreatic lipase. The seeds were found to be rich in fat (22.40-24.90 g/100g) with high amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) ranging from 68.96% (S. ebulus) to 75.15% (S. nigra). High ratios of PUFAs/SFAs (saturated fatty acids), ranging from 7.06 (S. nigra) to 7.64 (S. ebulus), and low ratios of n-6/n-3, ranging from 0.84 (S. nigra) to 1.51 (S. ebulus), were determined in both oils. The lipid classes/subclasses analyzed (PLs, MAGs--monoacylglycerols, DAGs--diacylglycerols, FFAs--free fatty acids, TAGs and SEs--sterol esters) were separated and identified using thin-layer chromatography. The fatty acid compositions of the TAG fractions were practically identical to the profiles of TLs, with the same dominating fatty acids in both analyzed species. SEs and FFAs, were characterized by high proportions of SFAs. The sn-2 position of TAGs was esterified predominantly with linoleic acid (43.56% for S. nigra and 50.41% for S. ebulus).

Comparison of various solutions to dissolve critical care diet clots.

BACKGROUND: Enteral feeding tubes are frequently placed in animals to provide assisted nutritional support; however, one major reported complication is clogging of the tubes. The goal of this study was to determine which solution is most effective at dissolving in vitro clots made using a veterinary canned critical care diet. METHODS: Various solutions were tested for their ability to dissolve enteral feed clots, including water, meat tenderizers in water, predetermined amounts of pancreatic enzymes (with and without sodium bicarbonate) in water, carbonated beverages, and cranberry juice. RESULTS: The solution that resulted in the greatest dissolution was » teaspoon pancreatic enzymes and 325 mg sodium bicarbonate in 5 mL water, which was significantly better than all other solutions (water: P = 0.03; » teaspoon pancreatic enzymes in water: P = 0.002; all others: P < 0.001). Water was significantly better than all carbonated beverages and cranberry juice (P < 0.001). The least successful solution was ½ teaspoon pancreatic enzymes and sodium bicarbonate in water. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Despite anecdotal reports of using carbonated beverages, cranberry juice, and ½ teaspoon pancreatic enzymes to unclog feeding tubes, all were significantly less effective than water. In vivo studies to evaluate the effectiveness of methods to unclog feeding tubes are warranted to further investigate these findings.

Liver iron and serum ferritin levels are misleading for estimating cardiac, pancreatic, splenic and total body iron load in thalassemia patients: factors influencing the heterogenic distribution of excess storage iron in organs as identified by MRI T2*.

A comparative assessment of excess storage iron distribution in the liver, heart, spleen and pancreas of ß-thalassemia major (ß-ΤΜ) patients has been carried out using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) relaxation times T2*. The ß-ΤΜ patients (8-40 years, 11 males, 9 females) had variable serum ferritin levels (394-5603 µg/L) and were treated with deferoxamine (n = 10), deferiprone (n = 5) and deferoxamine/deferiprone combination (n = 5). MRI T2* assessment revealed that excess iron is not proportionally distributed among the organs but is stored at different concentrations in each organ and the distribution is different for each ß-ΤΜ patient. There is random variation in the distribution of excess storage iron from normal to severe levels in each organ among the ß-ΤΜ patients by comparison to the same organs of ten normal volunteers. The correlation of serum ferritin with T2* was for spleen (r = -0.81), liver (r = -0.63), pancreas (r = -0.33) and none with heart. Similar trend was observed in the correlation of liver T2* with the T2* of spleen (r = 0.62), pancreas (r = 0.61) and none with heart. These studies contradict previous assumptions that serum ferritin and liver iron concentration is proportional to the total body iron stores in ß-ΤΜ and especially cardiac iron load. The random variation in the concentration of iron in the organs of ß-ΤΜ patients appears to be related to the chelation protocol, organ function, genetic, dietary, pharmacological and other factors. Monitoring of the iron load for all the organs is recommended for each ß-ΤΜ patient.

Acute pancreatitis in obesity: adipokines and dietary fish oil.

BACKGROUND: Acute pancreatitis is a substantial clinical problem accounting for 240,000 hospital admissions yearly in the United States. Obesity is epidemic and is clearly an independent risk factor for increased severity of acute pancreatitis (AP). Adipose tissue is an endocrine organ that secretes a variety of metabolically active substances termed adipokines. However, the role of adipokines in modulating acute pancreatitis severity remains incompletely understood. Dietary fish oil is rich in omega-3 free fatty acids and attenuates adipose tissue-induced inflammation. Therefore, we hypothesized that feeding obese mice diets rich in fish oil would alter the adipokine milieu and attenuate the severity of pancreatitis. METHODS: Lean (C57BL/6 J) and obese (LepDb) mice were fed either a soybean oil- or fish oil-rich diet for 4 weeks. AP was induced by six hourly intraperitoneal injections of cerulein (50 µg/kg). Serum adipokine levels were measured, and pancreatitis severity was assessed histologically and by measuring pancreatic concentrations of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1ß), interleukin-6 (IL-6), myleoperoxidase (MPO), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1). RESULTS: Obese mice developed more severe pancreatitis than lean mice. Fish oil significantly decreased serum leptin (lean and obese) and increased serum adiponectin (lean only). Fish oil did not alter the baseline pancreatic inflammatory milieu, nor did it change histologic or biochemical pancreatitis severity. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that a diet rich in fish oil altered the adipokine milieu in lean and congenitally obese mice; however, fish oil did not improve pancreatitis severity induced with cerulein hyperstimulation.

Conversion of sunflower oil to biodiesel by alcoholysis using immobilized lipase.

Transesterification reaction was performed using sunflower oil and short-chain alcohol by immobilized lipases in organic solvents. The fatty acid ester, which is the product of this reaction, can be used as a diesel fuel that does not produce sulfur oxide and minimize the soot particulate. Immobilized porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL) and Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) showed the satisfactory activity in these reactions. Immobilization of lipases was carried out using inorganic absorbance Celit 545 particle as a carrier. Organic solvent like hexane in reactions was required when methanol and ethanol were used as alcoholic substrate. The reaction could be performed in absence of solvent when 1-propanol and 1-butanol were used as short-chain alcohol. The activities of immobilized lipases were highly increased in comparison with free lipases because its activity sites became more effective. Immobilized enzyme could be repeatedly used without difficult method of separation and the decrease in its activity was not largely observed.

High-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry for characterization of enzymatic degradation of 2,2'-bis(2-oxazoline)-linked poly-epsilon-caprolactone.

This paper describes a straightforward and rapid on-line characterization using high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS(n)) of the enzymatic degradation products of 2,2'-bis(2-oxazoline)-linked poly-epsilon-caprolactone (PCL-O). These new PCL-O polymers are expected to be used in a variety of pharmaceutical and biomedical applications since they are degraded enzymatically by surface erosion. PCL-O was polymerized in a three-step reaction and characterized by (1)H-NMR and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). Solvent cast polymer films were exposed to enzymatic degradation in phosphate buffer (pH 7.5, 1% pancreatin). The enzymatic degradation of the polymer produced a wide variety of water-soluble oligomers which were separated and identified by HPLC/ESI-MS(n). Optimization of the gradient HPLC method resulted in effective separation of the oligomers. Furthermore, specific structures of the oligomers were clearly identified by tandem mass spectrometry. According to these results, ester bonds seem to be most sensitive to enzymatic degradation and, correspondingly, pancreatic lipase seems to be mainly responsible for the enzymatic erosion of the PCL-O films. This novel mass spectrometric method provides important knowledge about the enzymatic degradation process and structure of the polymer which is difficult to ascertain by other conventional methods.