The effects of two
sugar alcohols on feed utilization, digesta retention, gut fermentation and serum
lipid profiles were compared in normal and cecectomized rats to examine the possibility of the cecectomized rat as an experimental animal with relevance to humans. Semi-purified diets containing no
sugar alcohol, 7%
sorbitol or 7%
lactitol were fed to normal and cecectomized rats for 16 days. The digestibility of the crude fat and the compositions of the carcass dry matter and crude fat were significantly decreased by feeding
sugar alcohols in both groups, but the effects were relatively higher in the cecectomized rats than in the normal rats.
Diarrhea, faster transit times and shorter retention times of digesta were noted in the cecectomized rats fed
sugar alcohols, while the inverse results were observed in the normal rats fed similar diets. The concentration of cecal organic
acids was increased in the normal rats, whereas the concentration of colonic organic
acids was decreased in the cecectomized rats fed
sugar alcohols, compared with their corresponding control groups. The concentration of serum total
cholesterol was decreased in both the normal and cecectomized rats fed diets containing
sugar alcohols. The tendencies for
diarrhea, faster digesta transit and reduced body fat induced by the fermentable materials in the cecectomized rat have good relevance to the parallel effects of fermentable materials in humans, suggesting the possibility of using the cecectomized rat as a model to study some of the physiological effects of
sugar alcohols in humans.