Protein digestion and absorption in the blind loop syndrome

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Abstract
Protein digestion and absorption was studied in rats with 6-week-old surgically constructed self-filling intestinal blind loops and steatorrhea, ie, blind-loop animals and controls were fed a14C-labeled protein meal containing a nonabsorbable marker,51CrCl 3 , and sacrificed 1 or 2 hr later. Intestinal contents were analyzed for14C,51Cr, protein, trypsin, and the products of digestion. At 1 hr,14C absorption was greater in controls, but at 2 hr there was no difference in absorption between the two groups. Marker studies showed that blind-loop filling resulted in a delay of the progression of intestinal contents distally. Intraluminal trypsin and porteolysis were similar in the two groups. Endogenous protein was greater in the blind-loop animals. The early stages of the blind-loop syndrome may be characterized by delayed protein absorption secondary to blind-loop filling, which is compensated for by the distal gut resulting in an absence of overall protein malabsorption.