Palatinose as a potential parenteral nutrient: its metabolic effects and fate after oral and intravenous administration to dogs.

Palatinose (6-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-D-fructose) is a naturally occurring compound which may be valuable as both a sweetener and parenteral nutrient. Its advantage over maltose is that its hydrolysis generates both fructose and glucose. In the present study, conducted with a view to possible clinical use, its metabolic effects and fate after iv injection were investigated. Using dogs as the experimental model, it was found that the behavior of parenterally administered palatinose is in many respects similar to maltose and is likely to be clinically valuable. Importantly, hypertriglyceridemia, a side effect of fructose administration, did not occur, indicating that palatinose may be superior to the use of fructose alone.