Medium- and long-chain triacylglycerols as enteral nutrition enhancing the nutritional status of postoperative rats undergoing chemotherapy by increasing the bioavailability of functional fatty acids.

Medium- and long-chain triacylglycerols (MLCTs) have been widely used in the field of pharmaceutical nutrition. However, the application of MLCT as enteral nutrition remains underexplored. Our previous in vitro digestion experiment revealed that MLCTs can improve the bioaccessibility of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in comparison with physically mixed oils (MOs). In this study, we showed that MLCTs promote enhance triglyceride synthesis and secretion in Caco-2 cells, as evidenced by significant upregulation of RNA transcription levels of FATP4, L-FABP, and PPARα (p < 0.05) compared with MOs. Animal experiment results show that MLCTs can improve the energy metabolism and liver function, decrease NF-κB p65 and inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8 of rats undergoing chemotherapy postoperatively. This was related to the elevated bioavailability and metabolic efficiency of functional fatty acids in MLCTs. Besides, RT-qPCR, western blot, and immunohistochemical analyses confirme that MLCTs downregulate the expression of proinflammatory factors by suppressing the liver NF-κB signal transduction pathway, thereby improving the nutritional status of rats.