Patent ID: 8415113

Claim:
A diagnostic method for determining pancreatic function in a human patient, the method comprising the steps of: providing two or more different purified polyclonal antibodies each elicited against an immunogenic composition comprising a conjugate consisting of a non-elastase carrier protein and one or more synthetic peptides selected from the group consisting of NH2-A-V-K-E-G-P-E-Q-V-I-P-I-N-COOH (SEQ ID NO: 2), NH2-Y-T-N-G-P-L-P-D-K-L-Q-Q-A-R-COOH (SEQ ID NO: 3), NH2-G-P-L-N-C-P-T-E-D-G-G-W-Q-COOH SEQ ID NO: 4), and NH2-R-S-G-C-N-G-D-S-G-G-P-L-N-COOH (SEQ ID NO: 5); wherein said different antibodies are each specific for human pancreatic elastase 1; obtaining a sample of a bodily fluid or stool from the patient; mixing the sample with the two or more different purified antibodies to form specific immune complexes among the antibodies and human pancreatic elastase 1 present in the sample; and detecting an amount of the immune complexes to determine an amount of human pancreatic elastase 1 in the sample, wherein the amount of human pancreatic elastase 1 in the sample is indicative of pancreatic function in the patient.