Dietary fish oil increases fat absorption and fecal bile acid content without altering bile acid synthesis in 20-d-old weanling rats following massive ileocecal resection.

INTRODUCTION: Dietary fish oil (FO) was reported to lower fecal fat excretion in a weanling rat model of short bowel syndrome (SBS) after ileocecal resection (ICR), and to induce changes in secretion and synthesis of bile acid (BA) in adults. We hypothesized that dietary FO, as compared with corn oil (CO), increases intestinal fat absorption in weanling SBS rats in part due to increased hepatic BA synthesis and luminal BA concentrations.
METHODS: After undergoing ICR, 20-d-old rats were fed ad lib for 7 d with a CO or FO diet containing 5% sucrose polybehenate (SPB), a marker for dietary fat absorption. Fecal fatty acid, fecal and intestine luminal BA, liver mRNA expressions of cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (Cyp7α1) and sterol-12α-hydroxylase (Cyp8β1), and serum 7α-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-1 (7αC4) levels were determined.
RESULTS: As compared with CO-ICR rats, FO-ICR rats had higher intestinal absorption of total fat and most individual fatty acids. Although the BA content per gram of dry stool was increased in FO-ICR rats, there were no differences between groups for the BA content in remnant jejunum, liver mRNA expression of BA biosynthetic enzymes, Cyp7α1 and Cyp8β1, or serum 7αC4, a marker for BA synthesis.
CONCLUSION: Dietary FO increases dietary fat absorption without increasing hepatic BA synthesis in weanling SBS rats.