Abstract The use of chitosan as a food additive or as a pharmaceutical preparation to reduce the absorption of lipids is disclosed. The chitosan, as such or in the form of fatty acid complex, may be admixed with food in a minor quantity; for example, an amount of 1 to 10 percent by weight may be incorporated into a pharmaceutical preparation or composition for oral administration in an effective amount to reduce lipid absorption.

Excerpt "...the chitosan is capable of binding various fatty acids to form the corresponding complex salts. I believe that the binding is induced by the number of free amino groups in the chitosan which forms an ionic bond causing a binding effect considerable stronger that obtained in conventional absorption or adsorption. The chitosan-fatty acid complexes can be prepared by neutralization of chitosan with various amounts of fatty acids, preferably edible fatty acids, such as oleic, linoleic, palmitic, stearic or linolenic acid. These complexes can be prepared by neutralization of chitosan with various amounts of fatty acids, stoichiometric amounts, less than stoichiometric amounts, or greater than stoichiometric amounts than those required for the neutralization of the chitosan. The chitosan-fatty acid complex, after ingestion by a mammal, will bind additional lipids, most probably due to its strong hydrophobic characteristic. Such lipids include natural triglycerides, fatty and bile acids, and cholesterol and other sterols, and a great portion of these bound lipids will be excreted rather than absorbed and utilized by the mammal. This is believed due to the following factors:

• Chitosan's inherent insolubility, nonabsorbability, and undigestibility;
• The strong ionic binding of fatty and bile acids which prevent their release for absorption and utilization;
• The inability of the hydrochloric acid in the stomach to hydrolyze the chitosan-fatty acid complexes (complex does not wet);
• The tendency of the complexes to grow in size as they travel through the gastro-intestinal tract and gradually absorb and bind additional lipids;
• The ability of the chitosan-fatty acid complex to bind dietary triglycerides which are hydrolyzed by lipase and released as fatty acids or other volatile fatty acids (acetic, formic, butyric) formed by microbial degradation in vivo and
• The ability of the chitosan to bind to its matrix and promote the excretion of cholesterol and sterols which will be solubilized in the lipophilic phase."

Claims

What is claimed:

1. A method of reducing lipid absorption in mammals which comprises orally administering to the mammal an amount of chitosan effective to substantially reduce the lipid absorption.
2. A method according to claim 1 in which said chitosan is in the form of a fatty acid complex.

 

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