[Participation of the small intestine in intermediary lipid metabolism]

Data obtained in preliminarily operated healthy animals with the aid of a single or repeated lipid load achieved by means of heptadecan acid, showed that the C17:0 acid becomes involved in processes of lipid synthesis in the intestine epithelium, absorbed in the gastro-intestinal tract, and spread by the blood over different tissues, including the isolated loop of small intestine, in the form of various complex lipids. The small intestine appears to be a depot of lipids accumulating products which can be reabsorbed from the intestine lumen. As the depot reguires no hormonal or enzymatic mechanisms for mobilizing the resources, it has its advantages and is rather mobile. The "depots" ready for reabsorption of lipids in the intestine lumen appear to be one of the mechanisms for maintenance of homeostasis of nutritional substances within the organism.