Improvement of Lipid Absorption in Young Pigs as a Model for Preterm Infants

Preterm infants and neonatal suckling piglets have a limited bile acid pool that may hinder absorption of dietary lipids such as fatty acids, triacylglycerols (TAGs), and other lipid-soluble nutrients. Because dietary lipids are a valuable source of energy for growth, it is important that they are efficiently absorbed. The hypothesis of this study is that oral administration of 0.2 g/kg body weight daily of cholylsarcosine, an artificial bile acid, would decrease fecal excretion of dietary fatty acids and TAGs in suckling piglets. Twelve 7-d-old piglets were housed individually and fed a commercial milk replacer with or without oral cholylsarcosine until 21 d of age. Cholylsarcosine treatment decreased fecal excretion of stearic acid (18:0) and palmitic acid (16:0) (P ≤ 0.02). Cholylsarcosine supplementation had no effect on absorption of unsaturated fatty acids of 16 or 18 carbons (P > 0.05). Cholylsarcosine increased fecal excretion of deoxycholic acid (P = 0.03). Apparent absorption of dietary TAGs was increased from 77% in piglets not fed cholylsarcosine to 83% in the piglets that received oral cholylsarcosine. These results support the hypothesis that cholylsarcosine increases absorption of dietary TAGs.