Pancreas is an important gland of digestive system situated in the loop of duodenum in the abdominal cavity. Pancreas is a dual gland secreting hormones as well as digestive secretions. The digestive secretions are discharged into the duodenum through pancreatic duct.
The digestive secretion of pancreatic juice contains enzymes for digestion of proteins (trypsin, carboxypeptidase, chymotrypsin), carbohydrates (amylase), fats (lipase) and nucleic acids (ribonuclease and deoxyribonuclease). Apart from the enzymes, pancreatic juice also contains high quantity of sodium bicarbonate which imparts alkaline reaction to pancreatic juice. Bicarbonates are involved in neutralization of acid of stomach and making the intestinal medium alkaline for enzyme action. Amount of bicarbonate secreted in pancreatic juice is proportional to the amount of acid entering the duodenum and it is regulated by nervous system and secretin hormone.
An antitrypsin factor present in pancreatic juice protects the pancreas against self digestive action of enzymes.
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