The occurrence of unusual fatty acids in faecal lipids from human beings with normal and abnormal fat absorption

The effects of sodium ricinoleate on small intestinal function and structure.

“…Sucrase activity was measured by the method of Dahlqvist (18). For phospholipid determination, supernates were brought to pH 6.8, extracted twice with chloroform/ methanol, 2: 1, the solvent layer evaporated to dryness in a rotary evaporator at 370 C, and phosphorus determined (19 1 min, a ring of jejunum 5-10 cm distal to the ligament of Treitz was removed, opened, and trimmed in the same fixative into approximately 1-mm wide blocks and fixed for 1 h. The tissue was rinsed and postfixed in lo osmium tetroxide, 0.1 M sym-collidine-HCl buffer, pH 7.42, for 1 h, and stained en bloc in 0.5%o uranyl acetate containing 4%o sucrose.…”

“…The reasons for fecal fluid and electrolyte loss in fat malabsorption are not clear, but the finding of increased amounts of hydroxy fatty acids in the stools from such patients (1)(2)(3)(4)(5) suggested that these compounds might be responsible (4)(5)(6). This possibility was especially attractive because of the well-known cathartic properties of ricinoleic acid, the C-18 hydroxy fatty acid known to be the active component of castor oil (7).…”

The influence of diet on the quality of faecal fat in patients with and without steatorrhoea

“…The relative importance of these two components can be assessed from examination of the composition as well as of the amount of fat. Few qualitative studies have been carried out, because extremely timeconsuming chemical procedures were necessary to analyse the different fatty acids present in a mixture of fats but such analyses can now be made more easily by gas-liquid chromatography (Anderson and Martin, 1956;James, 1960). This investigation was undertaken to see what effect a marked change in the quality of the fat consumed would have on the quality of the fat in the faeces.…”

Incidence and significance of faecal hydroxystearic acid in alimentary disease

“…A major factor indeterminingthedifferences is bacterial action within the colon (Wiggins, Howell, Kellock, and Stalder, 1969), and one product of this process is hydroxystearic acid (OHSA) which has been identified in the stools in normal subjects and in various disease states (Chipault, 1953;James, Webb, and Kellock, 1961;Rosenfeld and Hellman, 1962;Gompertz and Sammons, 1963). The proportion of OHSA varies in different conditions and it has been proposed that this may be of value in clinical diagnosis (Kim and Spritz, 1968a).…”

“…In addition, because of its chemical structure, it has been suggested that this compound may have a role in the causation of diarrhoea in the malabsorp- ' (James et al, 1961;Hofmann, Poley, Mekhjian, and Phillips, 1970;Soong, Thompson, Poley, and Hess, 1972) and this suggestion has received some recent support. The results of the present study, which are an extension of the original reports from this laboratory (James et al, 1961 ;Webb et al, 1963), have also been examined from this point of view.…”