The hypothesis tested was that feeding guinea pigs
sucrose produces a more rapid concentration in the bile and excretion in the feces and urine of substances catabolized by the liver than does feeding
invert sugar (50:50 mixture of
glucose and
fructose). Fifty male guinea pigs of the Hartley strain were divided into two groups of 25 animals each and fed for 4 wk repelleted nonpurified diet with 20% of total energy provided by
sucrose or
invert sugar. At the end of 4 wk all 50 animals were injected i.p. with a dose of 15 mg/kg
body weight of
phenolphthalein.
Phenolphthalein is excreted almost quantitatively in feces. After injection all guinea pigs were housed in metabolism cages. Urine and feces were recovered and analyzed for free
glucuronic acid and
glucuronide content by a modified
naphthoresorcinol procedure over 24 h. Guinea pigs fed
sucrose produced more urine than those fed
invert sugar, although there was no difference in water intake. After 24 h 15 animals in each group were killed, and the bile was sampled from their gall bladders to determine its
phenolphthalein content. The remaining 10 animals in each group were held three additional days when they were killed and their bile was sampled to determine its
phenolphthalein content. All biliary
phenolphthalein was in conjugated form. Guinea pigs fed
sucrose had less free
glucuronic acid in their feces than those fed
invert sugar. Feeding
sucrose resulted in a higher bile conjugated
phenolphthalein content 4 d after injection than did feeding
invert sugar.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)