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CONCURRENT MEASUREMENT, IN UNANÆSTHETIZED RATS, OF INTESTINAL TRANSPORT AND FAT ABSORPTION FROM THE LUMEN
Author(s) -
Aberdeen V.,
Shepherd P. A.,
Simmonds W. J.
Publication year - 1960
Publication title -
quarterly journal of experimental physiology and cognate medical sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.925
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1469-445X
pISSN - 0033-5541
DOI - 10.1113/expphysiol.1960.sp001471
Subject(s) - small intestine , stomach , gastric emptying , peg ratio , absorption (acoustics) , chemistry , digestion (alchemy) , meal , absorption rate , medicine , chromatography , food science , biochemistry , materials science , finance , economics , composite material
A test meal containing emulsified coconut oil mixed with water soluble polyethyleneglycol (PEG) of high mol. wt. was given to rats by gastric intubation. At intervals up to 5 hr. after the meal, rats were killed and the amounts of PEG and fat recoverable from the stomach, small intestine and coæcum were measured. PEG was not absorbed from, nor broken down in, the intestine and left the stomach at the same rate as the emulsified fat. It was, therefore, a suitable reference substance. With a test meal of constant volume, 4 ml., increasing doses of fat, 0·25, 0·5 and 140 ml., decreased the rate of stomach emptying and of propulsion of PEG through the small intestine. The rate of fat absorption was limited by the decreasing rate of stomach emptying but there was no indication that the absorptive capacity of the small intestine had been saturated. The ratio of recovery of fat: PEG in successive segments of the small intestine indicated that fat was absorbed chiefly in the distal half. This was probably due to rapid propulsion of material through the proximal half rather than to any lack in capacity for fat absorption proximally.