Specific metabolic effect of sodium nitrite on fat metabolism by mucosal cells of the colon.

The effect on the mucosa of sodium nitrite that enters the colon from the ileum or transmucosally from the circulation is unknown. Isolated colonic mucosal cells and Roux-en-Y colostomies were used to test whether high doses of sodium nitrite (5-40 mM) had any harmful histological or inhibitory metabolic actions on the mucosa. Luminal instillation of 40 mM NaNO2 (3 ml/24 hr) for 7-14 days produced no microscopic changes in the mucosa either of damage (ulceration, mucus cell depletion) or of new growth (dysplasia, neoplasia). Beta oxidation of bacterial fatty acids (n-butyrate) by colonic epithelial cells in rat and man was enhanced by 50% (P less than 0.001) with 10 mM NaNO2, while oxidation of glucose and amino acid (proline) was not affected. Sodium nitrite significantly depressed ketogenesis (P less than 0.001) by the colonic mucosa of rat and man. In conclusion, sodium nitrite in the presence of bacteria has no damaging effect on the colonic mucosa but causes selective stimulation of fatty acid oxidation in the colonic mucosa of rat and man.