Adaptation of colonic uptake of hexoses and lipids following ileal resection: effect of variations in the fat content of the diet.

This study was undertaken to determine the effect of varying the dietary composition of fat (corn oil and lard) on the colonic uptake of lipids (medium-chain-length fatty acids, cholesterol and decanol) and hexoses (D-glucose, galactose and 3-O-methyl glucose) in control rabbits with an intact intestinal tract, and in animals submitted 6 weeks previously to the surgical removal of the distal half of their small intestine. Food intake was similar in the control and resected animals fed the high-fat (HF) or the low-fat (LF) diet. Body weight gain was lower in control animals fed LF than HF, but was lower in resected animals fed HF than LF. Colonic adherent mucosal fluid volume was unaffected by diet or by ileal resection, but colonic weight was lower in resected than control animals fed LF. Colonic uptake of glucose and 3-O-methyl glucose but not galactose was changed by ileal resection and by dietary fat changes. Colonic uptake of fatty acids and cholesterol was also different in HF than LF, and in resected as compared with control animals, but these changes were not explained by variations in the effective resistance of the colonic unstirred water layer. Thus colonic transport function is altered by the manipulation of the dietary content of fat and by resection of the ileum.