DO WE STILL NEED TO COLLECT STOOL - EVALUATION OF VISUALIZED FATTY-ACID ABSORPTION - EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES USING RATS

Background: Short-gut syndrome is likely to impair enteric fat utiliza tion. This study was undertaken to develop a clinical test of lipid ab sorption without fecal collection. Methods: The absorption of enterall y fed radioactive long-chain fatty acid, beta-methyl-p-(I-123)-iodophe nylpentadecanoic acid was investigated with continuous chyle collectio n in rats. The changes in excretion and time-dependent biodistribution of radioactivity of the enterally fed agent were assessed in normal c ontrol animals. Similarly, sequential urinary excretion and biodistrib ution were studied along with scintigraphy using sham-operated and sho rt-gut animals. Results: Approximately 64% of the enterally fed radioa ctivity was recovered in the collected chyle (24 hours). A comparison of normal control, sham-operated, and short-gut animals showed signifi cantly less urinary and greater fecal excretions of radioactivity in s hort-gut animals. With the use of sequential scintigraphy, the small i ntestine, whole-body soft tissues, and urinary bladder were well visua lized in sham-operated animals, whereas the large intestine and feces were demonstrated earlier in short-gut animals. Conclusions: Our resul ts suggest that enteral feeding of the agent might be feasible for det ermining lipid absorption from the the dynamic changes of radioactivit y in visualized abdominal organs and in urine.