Digestion and absorption of trioleoyl-thioglycerol in the rat.

A triacylglycerol analogue, rac-1,2-di-O-oleoyl-3-S-oleoyl-3-thioglycerol, was fed to rats and chyle acylglycerols were analyzed. Triacylglycerol was the dominating chyle lipid but X-triacyl-1-thioglycerol constituted approx. 6% of total chyle lipids. Its identity was verified by ultraviolet and mass spectra and its stereochemical structure by ORD and CD. The proportions of triacyl-1-thio-sn-glycerol/triacyl-3-thio-sn-glycerol were 63/37 and 78/22 in two experiments. Possible reasons for this stereospecificity are discussed. The study shows that the stereochemical configuration of lipids isolated from biological material can be assessed by ORD and CD.