FUNCTION OF PANCREATIC JUICE AND OF BILE IN ASSIMILATION OF DIETARY TRIGLYCERIDE

Abstract

THE ASSIMILATION of a dietary material may be considered to consist in part of the processes concerned in its transfer from the food to the circulating fluids of the body. These processes include the mechanical transport of ingested material through the gastrointestinal tract, the physical and chemical changes which may occur in the bowel lumen (digestion), and the transfer of digested material from the bowel lumen to the blood or lymph (absorption). This review is concerned with the gastrointestinal assimilation of ordinary dietary triglycerides, in which the constituent fatty acids are predominantly palmitic, stearic, and oleic. The term lipid means alcohol-ether-soluble material, which may consist of triglyceride, fatty acid, sterol, or a mixture. A quantitative estimate of the degree of gastrointestinal assimilation of a dietary lipid is obtained by the use of balance studies, in which daily dietary lipid intake is constant for a period during which the total daily