title: Metabolism and disposition of erythritol after oral administration to rats.
abstract: The metabolism and disposition of erythritol was studied using [14C]erythritol in rats. When [14C]erythritol was administered orally at a dose of 0.1 g/kg body wt to male rats, only 6% of the total radioactivity was excreted as expired 14CO2 and 88% was excreted in the urine within 24 h. The excreted metabolite in the urine consisted of a single component identified as intact [14C]erythritol. The excretion of 14CO2 and the incorporation ratios of radioactivity into tissues increased with the oral dosage. After rats were given an intravenous injection of [14C]erythritol, approximately 1% was excreted as 14CO2 and greater than 94% was excreted in the urine as intact [14C]erythritol. The excretion of 14CO2 within 24 h was increased to approximately 10% when [14C]erythritol was administered to rats that had been adapted to erythritol by feeding a diet containing 10% erythritol for 2 wk. When [14C]erythritol was incubated in vitro with the cecal contents from rats adapted to erythritol, greater than 20% was fermented to 14CO2 and 60% to short-chain fatty acids in 6 h. These results indicate that most orally administered erythritol was excreted in the urine without any degradation and that the remainder was transferred to the lower intestine and fermented by microbes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Noda
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oku
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D002432:Cecum / Q000378:metabolism; D004896:Erythritol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000652:urine; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D005285:Fermentation; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D004896:Erythritol