Some effects of diets rich in the glycerides of saturated fatty acids on intestinal elimination

Abstract

1. Measured amounts of pure triglycerides mixed with a standard dog food (Pard) were fed to dogs to see whether intestinal elimination would be affected by the added fat. 2. Simple triglycerides of the even numbered fatty acids containing from four to eighteen carbon atoms were the fats mixed with the standard dog food. 3. Feedings were continued for three days unless the dogs objected to the food. The second day’s ration was always mixed with a marker. 4. Information concerning the intestinal behavior of the animals was obtained in two ways: (1) direct. observation of the animal, and (2) chemical examination of the feces. 5. Diarrhea was characterized by the frequent passage of loose, watery stools while constipation was made evident by the difficult evacuation of dry, hard feces. 6. Chemical components of the feces for which analyses were made included moisture, total fat, soap fat and neutral fat. In some cases, iodine numbers were determined for the fat fractions. 7. Constipation was produced in dogs by the feeding of diets containing twenty percent additions of the triglycerides which melted above 50° C. (tristearin and tripalmitin). 8. The lipid content of the feces was greatly increased when either twenty percent tristearin or twenty percent tripalmitin was added to the diet, the increase in neutral fat being much greater than the increase in soap fat. 9. The addition of twenty percent trimyristin (M P. 48-50° C. uncorrected) to the standard diet did not affect the normal rate of intestinal elimination of the dogs. Consistency and moisture content of the feces were normal, although the neutral fat fraction was still greatly elevated. 10. The feeding of simple triglycerides of some of the saturated acids containing twelve or less carbon atoms (lauric, capric, capryllic, caproic and butyric acids) produced laxative effects in all cases. The intensity of the action varied inversely with the number of carbon atoms and the melting point of the acid. 11. As the cathartic action of the triglycerides increased, the percentage of added fat that the dogs would eat diminished. All of the dogs ate the meals of Pard with twenty percent addition of trilaurin but the concentration of added fat had to be cut in the remainder of the cases. 12. Tributyrin. having the most violent action of any of the fats fed. caused diarrhea in Dog C when as little as two tenths of one percent was added to the standard food. Furthermore, Dog C would not eat all of the usual daily ration of a pound of Parol after the addition of two-tenths of one percent tributyrin.