Journal of Nutrition OpenSOurce Diets- www.ResearchDiets.com

Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Journal of Nutrition Vol. 73 No. 4 April 1961, pp. 397-402
Copyright © 1961 by American Society for Nutrition
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kirschner, S. L.
Right arrow Articles by Harris, R. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Kirschner, S. L.
Right arrow Articles by Harris, R. S.

The Effects of Chain Length on the Metabolism of Saturated Fatty Acids by the Rat1,2,

Seymour L. Kirschner3 and Robert S. Harris

Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Four randomly mixed triglycerides containing either butyric-1-C14, caprylic-1-C14, lauric-1-C14 or palmitic-1-C14 acid were administered to young adult rats by stomach tube. Radioactivity measurements were made on samples of breath collected at timed intervals during 48 hours and on samples of urine, feces and colon contents collected during 48 hours.

Activity measurements on fecal samples indicated that the efficiency of absorption of palmitic acid (86%) from the intestinal tract was significantly lower than that of the three shorter-chain fatty acids (98 to 100%).

The rates of metabolism of butyric and caprylic acids to respired C14O2 were highest and similar, that of lauric acid was intermediate, and that of palmitic acid was lowest.

The differences observed in the expired C14O2, an end product of fatty acid metabolism, were probably due, at least in part, to differences in the route of transport of the fatty acids to the tissues following absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. The rapid excretion of C14O2 observed when the shorter-chain fatty acids were fed indicates that they were oxidized instead of entering the fat depots.

1 Presented at the 44th annual meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 1960, Chicago. Contribution no. 416 from the Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.

2 The Nutrition Foundation contributed to the partial support of this investigation.

3 Present address: School of Public Health, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Manuscript received 12 October 1960.




Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]