Binding of Bile Salts in vitro by Nonnutritive Fiber

Abstract

Binding in vitro of sodium taurocholate and glycocholate from 0.15 M NaCl by anion exchange resins (cholestyramine and colestipol), synthetic nonnutritive fiber (NNF) (cellophane spangles and cellulose), and natural NNF (alfalfa, wheat straw, sugar cane pulp, sugar beet pulp, bran, and oat hulls) was measured. The use of labeled bile salts greatly simplified the binding measurements without loss of accuracy. Alfalfa bound significantly more bile salt than any of the other NNF. However, all the natural NNF had a greater capacity for binding bile salts than did the synthetic NNF. The amount of binding by alfalfa and wheat straw seems to be linear both with respect to amount of binding substance and amount of bile salt available for binding. The NNF component of a diet must be considered when evaluating its metabolic effects.