Absorption of canthaxanthin by the rat is influenced by total lipid in the intestinal lumen.

In this study the effect of luminal lipid on the absorption of canthaxanthin (CTX) was investigated using the lymph duct cannulated rat. Treatments were emulsions designed to deliver increasing amounts of olive oil (10, 30, 50, 70, or 90 mg/h) and CTX (12.5 nmol/h). Emulsions were continuously infused into the duodenum for 12 h, and lymph was collected during the final 6 h of infusion for analysis. As the amount of lipid in the emulsion increased, a linear increase in the absorption of CTX was observed. The recovery of CTX in the lymph when infused with 10 mg/h olive oil was 14.2 +/- 1.2% and with 90 mg/h was 26.9 +/- 5.7%. The efficiency of CTX absorption nearly doubled by increasing the amount of lipid infused with CTX. The correlation between lipid load and CTX absorbed was r= 0.85. We conclude that luminal lipid load affects CTX absorption.