Absorption of Chimyl Alcohol in Man.

Abstract

C14-labeled chimyl alcohol fed orally to a patient with chyluria was almost completely absorbed, and 40% of administered radioactivity was recovered in 12 hours in the urinary lymph lipids. About half of radioactivity was identified as chimyl alcohol, about 3/4 of which was present as free chimyl alcohol, and 1/4 had become esterified. The remaining 50% had been converted to palmitic acid, and found incorporated in triglycerides, phospholipids and free fatty acids in proportions expected when dietary palmitic acid is transported from the gut. The results indicate that rupture of ether linkage of chimyl alcohol can occur in the intestinal mucosa of man, as in the rat, and that the palmiticl alcohol moiety is readily oxidized to palmitic acid.