Monoglyceride modification of jejunal absorption of fatty acid in the rat.

The effect of increasing the intracellular pool of monoolein upon the subsequent uptake and esterification of oleic acid was investigated using in vitro rat jejunal slice techniques. The mucosal pool of monoglyceride was expanded by preincubation of jejunal slices in a monoglyceride-containing bile salt medium at a temperature close to 1 degrees C, which inhibited esterification. Subsequent incubation in micellar [(14)C]oleic acid was performed either at 37 degrees C or in the cold. Monoglyceride preincubation increased [(14)C]oleic acid uptake by about 60% without increasing incorporation of fatty acid into triglyceride. This was not due to inhibition of esterifying capacity nor to changes in oleic acid binding to a mucosal fatty acid-binding protein. It is suggested that under these experimental conditions monoglyceride may modify intracellular pools of fatty acid. However, when monoglyceride and fatty acid were preincubated together, mucosal esterification rates during subsequent incubation at 37 degrees C more than doubled. Implications of these data for present theories of rate-limiting steps in lipid absorption are discussed.