American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 15, 293-298, Copyright © 1964 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Fat Absorption Studies in Various Forms of Steatorrhea

¹ From the Nutrition and Metabolism Laboratories, Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana

Patients with steatorrhea of varied etiology were hospitalized in a metabolic ward and given isocaloric diets containing known quantities of fat, carbohydrate and protein. During the course of experiments, only the type of fat included in the diet was changed. A marked steatonrhea and azotorrhea persisted when patients consumed diets containing either butter or glyceryl monostearate. When dietary fat was either cottonseed oil or glyceryl monolinoleate, steatorrhea decreased. Medium chain triglycerides were most effective in lowering fecal fat excretion which in some cases returned to normal. The severity of steatorrhea appears to be influenced by the type of fat ingested. A linear correlation exists between the severity of azotorrhea and of steatorrhea. Nitrogen absorption may be related to the efficiency of fat absorption, or, both processes may be dependent on common factors.

Cottonseed oil, glyceryl monolinoleate and medium chain triglycerides are absorbed better than butter and glyceryl monostearate. Whereas absorption of fat may be influenced both by the degree of saturation and the chain length of its constituent fatty acids, the results could be explained solely in terms of the physical characteristics of these fats.