Absorption of Chimyl Alcohol in Man. ∗

Summary

Labelled chimyl alcohol fed orally to a patient with chyluria was almost completely absorbed, and 40% of administered activity was recovered in 12 hours in the urinary lipids. About half of radioactivity in lymph was identified as chimyl alcohol, about three-fourths of which was present as free chimyl alcohol, and a fourth had become esterified. The remaining 50% had been converted to palmitic acid, and found in triglycerides, phospholipids and free fatty acids in proportions expected when dietary palmitic acid is transported from the gut. Repetition of this study in a patient with chylothorax gave essentially the same results. The results indicate that rupture of ether linkage of chimyl alcohol can occur in the intestinal mucosa of man, as in the rat, and that the palmitoyl alcohol moiety is readily oxidized to palmitic acid.