An acute ileal amino acid digestibility assay is a valid procedure for use in human ileostomates.

An acute (24-h) feeding/digesta sampling procedure was evaluated in a preliminary study using growing pigs. The validated acute procedure was then applied using human ileostomates to determine apparent and true ileal amino acid digestibilities of 4 dietary protein sources. The acute method involved feeding ileostomized pigs a single meal containing the test protein as part of a purified diet, with no previous dietary adaptation, followed by an 8-h collection of digesta. Apparent ileal N digestibility did not differ between the acute and conventional (14-d study) procedures. Eight adult human ileostomates each received a single meal of protein-free biscuits and a drink containing sodium caseinate, whey protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, or soy protein concentrate; this meal was followed by a 9-h total digesta collection period. Acid insoluble ash was used as an indigestible marker. True ileal amino acid digestibilities (means +/- SE) ranged from 90.5 +/- 2.74% for cysteine in soy protein concentrate to 105.3 +/- 5.66% for cysteine in sodium caseinate and were markedly higher than their apparent counterparts. True ileal digestibilities for total nitrogen were 101.9 +/- 0.70, 98.3 +/- 0.80, 99.5 +/- 0.80, and 98.5 +/- 1.20% for sodium caseinate, whey protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, and soy protein concentrate, respectively. The 4 protein sources were virtually completely digested in humans by the end of the small intestine.