330 IV. DIGESTION OF LIPIDS OTHER THAN FATS 



mins E from the intestine to the liver and to other tissues should vary 

 from the route of the other fat-soluble vitamins. However, strangely 

 enough, there does not appear to be any information in the literature in 

 regard to the presence of the vitamins E in the lymph, or any evaluation 

 of the proportion of these vitamins carried via the lymph or the portal 

 system. Harris 57 la states that the rates of absorption of orally administered 

 vitamins A and E are sufficiently similar to constitute presumptive evi- 

 dence that the 2 vitamins travel from the intestine to the blood stream by 

 the same pathway. 



(5) The Transport of the Vitamins K in the Lymph and Blood 



Although little has been known concerning the pathway by which the 

 vitamins -K are transported, the fact that the vitamins are present in the 

 liver and other tissues in increased amounts after their administration 

 would indicate that they are distributed by the lymph or by the blood 

 stream or both. Demonstration of the type of vitamin K laid down in 

 the liver under such conditions (Ki vs. K 2 ) would also be proof of its trans- 

 port from the gastrointestinal tract. 



Evidence that the lacteals and the lymphatics are the main routes for 

 the absorption of the vitamins K has recently been adduced by Mann 

 and co-workers. 572573 By means of a new operative procedure, devised 

 by Bollman, Cain, and Grindlay 574 for the collection of lymph from the 

 liver, it was demonstrated that vitamin K deficiency can be produced 

 rapidly by external drainage of the intestinal lymph. The vitamin K 

 carried via the portal system may be insufficient to prevent the hypopro- 

 thrombinemia which is the characteristic symptom of vitamin K deficiency. 

 While the results of Mann H aZ. 572 - 573 prove that natural vitamins K are 

 transported in the lymph, they do not afford information as to the route 

 by which such synthetic forms as menadione are carried. 



11. The Excretion of Lipids by Way of the Large Intestine 



Although water-soluble derivatives of the lipids are normally excreted 

 in the urine, the large intestine is usually regarded as the chief pathway 



671a P. L. Harris, Personal communication to the author (March, 1954). 



572 J. D. Mann, F. D. Mann, J. L. Bollman, and E. van Hook, Am. J. Physiol., 158. 

 311-314 (1949). 



573 F. D. Mann, J. D. Mann, J. L. Bollman, and E. van Hook, J. Lab. Clin. Med., 36, 

 234-237 (1950). 



674 J. L. Bollman, J. C. Cain, and J. H. Grindlay, J. Lab. Clin. Med, 83 1349-1352 

 (1948). 



