Uptake of lipids into rabbit jejunum and colon following ileal resection. Effect of variations in dietary content of carbohydrate

Inhibition of lipid absorption as an approach to the treatment of obesity

A reduction in fat intake may be achieved by making educated choices to reduce total calorie intake, to consume a lower quantity of total fats, or to modify the ratio of saturated-to-polyunsaturated lipids. Leptin agonists or NPY or CCK antagonists may prove to be useful to diminish appetite and thereby reduce the total intake of food. But eating has such cultural, social, and hedonistic attributes that such a single-pronged approach is unlikely to be successful. The use of fat substitutes may prove to be popular to provide a wide range of snack food options, but these are likely to be of minimal use in weight reduction programs because of their distribution of additives in only a limited number of foods. The inhibitors of lipid digestion will be modestly successful in the short term; their long-term success will be influenced by gastrointestinal adverse effects and the need to consume fat-soluble vitamin supplements to prevent the development of fat-soluble vitamin deficiencies. The inhibition of lipid absorption is an attractive targeted approach for the treatment of obesity, since this would reduce the uptake of visible as well as invisible fats, which would potentially offer convenient dosing, and could also be a means to inhibit secondarily the uptake of carbohydrate calories.

Experimental conditions affecting in vitro intestinal incorporation of palmitic acid: a methodological approach

In the rat, a large number of in vitro studies on intestinal fatty acid uptake have been carried out. However, the results obtained under different experimental conditions are often contradictory. The present work is a critical approach to the experimental aspects which may modify in vitro intestinal uptake of fatty acids. Different kinds of intestinal tissue samples (intact, everted or opened rings) were used. The histological changes and the uptake of palmitic acid were measured for each type of sample under different stirring rates, at different incubation times and with micellar solutions of varying composition. It is concluded that 1) opened rings have the highest absorptive capacity with the lowest dispersion; 2) incubation periods longer than 30 minutes do not result in additional palmitic acid uptake and may lead to severe tissue hypoxia as indicated by extensive vacuolization; 3) stirring rates over 1 cycle/sec do not result in increased PA uptake and cause extensive mucosal disruption, particularly in jejunal samples.

Changes in uptake of linoleic acid and cholesterol by jejunal sacs of rats in vitro, after distal small-bowel resection

Both linoleic acid and cholesterol uptake were studied in small-intestinal sacs of rats in vitro after distal small-bowel resection (DSBR). The relationship between linoleic acid concentration and its absorption was non-linear at low concentrations and became linear at high concentrations in the three groups of animals. These observations indicate that a concentration-dependent dual mechanism of transport is operative in linoleic acid intestinal uptake. Experiments with rotenone and ouabain suggest that a facilitated diffusion is the predominant mechanism of absorption at low concentrations, whereas at high concentrations simple diffusion is predominant. The apparent kinetic constants of linoleic acid uptake (Kd, Kt, and Vmax) increased after DSBR. The uptake of linoleic acid is, however, influenced by the simultaneous presence of linolenic acid, the inhibition constant being decreased after the surgical operation. After the surgical operation an increase of cholesterol uptake was observed, with a parallel enhancement in the apparent mass-transfer coefficient (Kd). Taken together, these results suggest that both organ growth and changes in transport function of the enterocytes appear to be involved in the adaptive response of the bowel to intestinal resection.