Recent clinical observations have indicated that triglycerides containing medium chain fatty acids may be useful in decreasing steatorrhea associated with malabsorptive states such as pancreatic insufficiency and extrahepatic biliary tract obstruction (1, 2). This suggests that significant amounts of medium chain triglycerides may be absorbed under conditions in which there are decreased intraluminal concentrations of pancreatic enzymes or bile salts. However, few quantitative data are available regarding the intestinal hydrolysis and the rate of absorption of medium chain triglycerides as compared to long chain triglycerides.We have compared the intestinal hydrolysis and absorption of a medium chain triglyceride (trioctanoin) with those of a long chain triglyceride (tripalmitin) under a variety of experimental conditions. These studies were performed with isolated intestinal loops in the rat.The data obtained indicate that there are significant differences in the rates of hydrolysis and absorption of trioctanoin compared to tripalmitin. We also observed that with decreased intraluminal concentrations of bile salts and pancreatic enzymes there was, as expected, decreased absorption of both trioctanoin and tripalmitin. However, under * Submitted for publication July 29, 1965; accepted October 29, 1965. This work was supported in part by grants from the John A. Hartford Foundation, Inc., and the National Institutes of Health (AM-01392, 03014, and T1-AM-5146).Part of this work was presented at the annual meeting of the American Federation for Clinical Research, Atlantic City, N. J., May 2, 1965, and appears in abstract form in Clin. Res. 1965, 13, 253. Samples of the various '4C-labeled lipid-albumin suspensions were added to 12 ml of a solution of p-dioxane containing 5%o naphthalene, 0.01% p-bis-2'-(5'-phenyloxazolyl)benzene, 0.7%o p-bis-2,5-diphenyloxazole, and 13.3%o absolute ethanol and were counted in a Packard Tri-Carb liquid scintillation spectrometer. The solution prepared for counting substances in organic solvents contained 15 ml of toluene with 4.0% Liquifluor.2 Quenching was corrected for by utilizing a standard quenching curve as described by Bush (3).Experiments on lipid absorption from isolated intestinal loops. With female rats weighing 160 to 180 g under light ether anesthesia, a laparotomy was performed, and a 20-to 30-cm segment of the lower duodenum and jejunum was isolated between double silk ligatures, care being taken not to obstruct the blood flow. In experiments in which normal intestinal loops were-utilized, the proximal ligature was placed at the pyloroduodenal