Influence of intestinal resection and type of diet on the digestive and metabolic utilization of fats in rats

Abstract

The effects of the quality of dietary fat, and the influence of ursodeoxycholic acid, an exogenous bile acid, on the digestive and metabolic utilization of fat were studied in rats in which 50% of the distal small intestine was resected. The fat content of the diets was quantitatively equivalent (4%), and differed only in the type of fat: olive oil (diet A) or 1/3 medium chain triglycerides (MCT), 1/3 sunflower oil and 1/3 olive oil (diet B). The removal of 50% of the distal small intestine led to a highly significant decline in the digestive utilization of fat (ADC) in animals given diet A. Rats fed diet B showed an increase in ADC to values approaching those seen in control animals. The addition of ursodeoxycholic acid to diet B failed to cause a further rise in the ADC of fat. After intestinal resection, serum levels of triglycerides and cholesterol fell more markedly in animals given diet A than in the diet B group, while the addition of ursodeoxycholic acid to diet B led to no further change. Serum lipid levels showed no significant influence of intestinal resection, but did accurately reflect the differences in fat composition between the two types of diet tested.

Study of Nutritive Utilization of Protein and Magnesium in Rats with Resection of the Distal Small Intestine. Beneficial Effect of Goat Milk

“…This seems to be due to the fact that resected animals tend to satisfy their caloric requirements by increasing food intake and thus compensate for the absence of half of the small intestine. These findings coincide with those of Coves et al (1991). The type of diet given influences intake, and so the goat milk diet is consumed in smaller volumes.…”

A review of the nutritional and health aspects of goat milk in cases of intestinal resection

“…The results showed that the modification of dietary lipid quality improves the digestive utilization of fat and that this improvement is maintained when ursodeoxycholic acid is added to the diet. Moreover, the fatty acid profile in serum revealed no deficit in essential fatty acids caused by intestinal resection or by type of diet, but did clearly reflect the source of dietary fat [19].…”

“…The resection of 50% of the distal small intestine produces a significant decrease in the amount of fat [6,19,20] due to a diminution in the absorptive surface area and to the greater intestinal transit speed, suggesting there is less contact time between the fat and the mucosa. Moreover, ileal resection creates a severe interruption in enterohepatic circulation, which gives rise to a notable decrease in the production of biliary salts [53], despite increased synthesis of the latter [63], which impedes the absorption of fats [22].…”

“…The most striking problem arising after resection of the distal small intestine is the increase in the excretion of fat [6,19,20].…”

“…Resection of the distal small intestine leads to a complicated pathological situation in which the organism is confronted with the malabsorption of protein [9,47], fat [6,19,20] and divalent cations (such as calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc and selenium) [2,3,30,31,46]. Intestinal resection can affect the rate of nutrient absorption by reducing the surface area available for nutrient transport and speeding up the transit time of food through the intestine, thus limiting the time nutrients are in contact with the absorptive surface.…”