Oleyl alcohol inhibits intestinal long-chain fatty acid absorption in rats

Long-chain fatty acids are important nutrients, but obesity is the most common nutritional disorder in humans. In this study we investigated the effect of oleyl alcohol on the intestinal long-chain fatty acid absorption in rats. We administered [14C]oleic acid and oleyl alcohol as lipid emulsion intraduodenally in unanesthetized lymph-cannulated rats and measured the lymphatic output of oleic acid. Second, we orally administered lipid emulsion with a stomach tube and measured the luminal and mucosal oleic acid residues. Furthermore, rats were fed oleyl alcohol as a dietary component for 20 days, and fecal lipid and the weight of adipose tissues were measured. In lymph-cannulated rats, triglyceride and [14C]oleic acid output in the lymph were significantly lower in the presence of oleyl alcohol when compared with the absence of oleyl alcohol in a dose-dependent manner. The radioactivity remaining in the intestinal lumen was more strongly detected in rats that had been orally administered oleyl alcohol than in the controls. The feces of rats fed an oleyl-alcohol-added diet contained much higher amounts of lipids, and the weights of their adipose tissues were significantly lower than in the control group. These results suggest that oleyl alcohol inhibits the rat gastrointestinal absorption of long-chain fatty acids in vivo.