Fatty acid patterns of serum triglycerides and subcutaneous adipose tissues after ileal bypass in obesity

A group of 9 obese subjects with a mean body weight of 140 kg was treated for their obesity with a jejuno-ileal intestinal shunt. During the first post-operative year their mean body weight decreased to 100 kg. Fatty acid patterns of triglycerides inserum and subcutaneous adipose tissue were studied at intervals during one year after surgery. Myristic and palmitic acids' contents of serum triglycerides were found to decrease during this period of time, whereas the fatty acid pattern of triglycerides in adipose tissue was practically unchanged. Triglycerides, cholesterol, albumin, and lactate dehydrogenase in serum decreased during the first year after operation, whereas aminotransferases showed a transient elevation. It is put forward that these findings are consistent with starvation rather than liver dysfunction.