Differential diagnosis of maldigestion and malabsorption of fat. I. Comparison of the radioactivity of triglyceride and non-esterified fatty acid in fecal fat using purified 131I-triolein.
To differentiate maldigestion from malabsorption of fat, we compared the radioactivity of triglyceride with non-esterified fatty acid in fecal fat after ingestion of radiochemically purified 131I-triolein. A large amount of radioactivity was present in the triglyceride fraction from patients with pancreatic insufficiency, while such was found only in non-esterified fatty acid fraction in patients with short bowel syndrome, as determined by thin-layer chromatogram scanning. Thus, the "Digestion-Absorption Index" was calculated as a ratio of the radioactivity of triglyceride to that of non-esterified fatty acid. Mean Digestion-Absorption Index was 0.946 in the maldigestive group, and 0.045 in the malabsorptive group, and there was a statistical significance. However, an overlap in a few cases was confirmed in the area of 0.10 +/- 0.02, when this index was plotted on a table of semilogarithms. We assumed that this overlap was chiefly the result of maldigestion plus malasorption of fat.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001345:Autoradiography; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000378:metabolism; D004063:Digestion; D004066:Digestive System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000378:metabolism*; D005243:Feces / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007408:Intestinal Absorption; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008286:Malabsorption Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000032:analysis*; D014304:Triolein / Q000378:metabolism
D004041:Dietary Fats; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D014280:Triglycerides; D014304:Triolein