Rats were made obese by VMH knife-cuts and then a 5 or 10 cm segment of terminal ileum was transposed to the duodenum. After surgery, the food moved from the stomach into upper duodenum and then traveled through the transposed ileal segment to lower duodenum and continued down the remaining normal digestive tract. Ileal transposition caused a significant reduction in food intake and a substantial loss of body weight. There was no difference in weight loss with 5 and 10 cm ileal transpositions in obese rats, but weight loss was much less in lean rats. Weight loss was accompanied by a considerable loss in dissectable body fat and an increase in the actual weight of the pancreas and small intestine. These changes are probably caused by the unusual stimulation of a short segment of terminal ileum with undigested food and pancreatic enzymes and may have been mediated by the release of ileal hormones. Changes in plasma levels of metabolites, intracellular enzymes, and protein are presented and the importance of this surgery for the treatment of human obesity is evaluated.

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