American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 16, 146-150, Copyright © 1965 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

The Biliary Excretion of Components of Intravenous Fat Emulsions by the Rat

¹ From the Department of Nutrition, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts

Emulsions containing radioactive tripalmitin or Pluronics (polyoxyethylenepolyoxypropylene detergents) were given intravenously to rats having cannulated bile ducts. Within 24 hours approximately 6,9 and 6 per cent of the injected radioactivity was recovered in the bile following the administration of Pluronic F68-C¹⁴, Pluronic F108-C¹⁴ and tripalmitin-1-C¹⁴, respectively. The bile-C¹⁴ activity associated with the Pluronics is assumed to represent the unchanged detergents since they are extremely resistant to biodegradation. In the case of the radioactive triglyceride only about 1 per cent of the bile lipid-C¹⁴ was triglyceride, representing less than 0.1 per cent of the injected dose. The rest of the bile-C¹⁴ activity was in the form of phosphatides, bile acids and nonidentified compounds. From these studies it is concluded that there is little excretion via the bile of the triglyceride of intravenously injected emulsions of fat.