Relative contribution of fat, protein, carbohydrate, and ethanol to intestinal hyperemia

The relative contribution of dietary fat, protein, carbohydrate, and ethanol to postprandial intestinal hyperemia was assessed by comparing the vascular and metabolic effects of luminal placement of various solutions prepared from standard high -fat, high-protein, and high-carbohydrate test diets, corn oil, and ethanol in the jejunum of anesthetized dogs. The high-fat diet (45% fat, 18% protein, 29% carbohydrate) produced the greatest hyperemia (+30.4% of control), followed by high-protein (22% fat, 64% protein, 4% carbohydrate) (+24.1%) and high-carbohydrate (8% fat, 18% protein, 68% carbohydrate) (+18.2%) diets. When the fat content of the high-carbohydrate diet was raised to equal that of the high-protein diet, the two diets produced the same degree of hyperemia. All three diets produced a significantly greater hyperemia than the solutions containing the same amount of fat. All these dietary solutions increased intestinal oxygen consumption. Ethanol, however, increased blood flow without altering oxygen consumption. Thus, on weight basis, fat produces the greatest hyperemia, but the contribution of protein and carbohydrate to postprandial intestinal hyperemia cannot be considered as insignificant. The hyperemia results from a synergistic effect of all three dietary components.