[Pathophysiological significance of steatorrhea as well as of hydroxystearic acids in the feces of calves with diarrhea].

The objective of this study was to determine the digestibility of milk lipids in calves with diarrhoea, the pathophysiological effects of fat intake on the course of the disease and the conversion of malabsorbed longchain fatty acids to secretory effective hydroxy fatty acids by the intestinal flora.

METHODS

32 male calves of the breed "Deutsches Fleckvieh" with spontaneous occurring diarrhoea, age 3-14 days. Reference group: 6 clinically healthy calves of the same age group. Feed: whole milk, daily ration corresponding to 10% of the BM, divided into 3 meals; supplementary oral rehydration solution as required.

METHODS

Quantitative collection of the faeces excreted over a period of at least 72 hours, determination of fatty acids and glycerides, identification and quantification of hydroxystearic acids in the faeces by gas chromatography; calculation of the apparent digestibility of the milk lipids.

RESULTS

The apparent digestibility of the milk lipids was in part considerably reduced in direct relation (r = 0.8) to the severity of the diarrhoea. In the case of daily fecal outputs of over 50 g/kg BM (watery diarrhoea), the apparent fat digestibility was reduced below 50%. Even so, the apparent digestibility correlated positively with the milk intake (r = 0.5). The fat excretion in the patients showed an average of 1.4 g/kg BM/24 h and was thus nearly nine times higher in comparison to the reference group (0.16 g/kg BM/24 h). In the case of severe diarrhoea, fat excretion rates of over 2 (up to max. 5.8) g/kg BM in 24 hours were recorded. However, in the main (approx. 70%) it was not glycerides but nonesterified fatty acids. A part of the longchain fatty acids were converted to hydroxy fatty acids by the intestinal flora. It was possible to quantify alpha-, 10(9)- and 12-hydroxystearic acids individually in the faeces of both healthy calves and those with diarrhoea. However, the total concentration of hydroxystearic acids in the faces of 26 out of 32 patients was considerably under the secretory effective concentration of 2 mmol/kg (mean = 1.5 mmol/kg), the other six lay between 2.9 and 11.6 mmol/kg. Only a weakly positive correlation (r = 0.23 or 0.24) existed between the amount of milk intake and the fecal concentration resp. excretion of hydroxystearic acids.

CONCLUSIONS

There was no evidence that the consumption of milk lipids influenced the diarrhoea negatively. In individual cases, it could not be completely excluded that fluid and electrolyte absorption was affected by hydroxystearic acids produced in the intestine, but the quantitative effects of this process are of minor significance in comparison to other diarrhoea inducing factors.