Effect of chitosan feeding on intestinal bile acid metabolism in rats

The effect of chitosan feeding (for 21 days) on intestinal bile acids was studied in male rats. Serum cholesterol levels in rats fed a commercial diet low in cholesterol were decreased by chitosan supplementation. Chitosan inhibited the transformation of cholesterol to coprostanol without causing a qualitative change in fecal excretion of these neutral sterols. Increased fiber consumption did not increase fecal excretion of bile acids, but caused a marked change in fecal bile acid composition. Lithocholic acid increased significantly, deoxycholic acid increased to a lesser extent, whereas hyodeoxycholic acid and the 6 beta-isomer and 5-epimeric 3 alpha-hydroxy-6-keto-cholanoic acid(s) decreased. The pH in the cecum and colon became elevated by chitosan feeding which affected the conversion of primary bile acids to secondary bile acids in the large intestine. In the cecum, chitosan feeding increased the concentration of alpha-,beta-, and omega-muricholic acids, and lithocholic acid. However, the levels of hyodeoxycholic acid and its 6 beta-isomer, of monohydroxy-monoketo-cholanoic acids, and of 3 alpha, 6 xi, 7 xi-trihydroxy-cholanoic acid decreased. The data suggest that chitosan feeding affects the metabolism of intestinal bile acids in rats.