Selective in vivo effect of chitosan on fatty acid, neutral sterol and bile acid excretion: A longitudinal study

► Chitosan selectively reduces fat absorption and has higher affinity to bind fatty acids with higher polarity. ► Intestinal bioconversion of cholesterol and bile acids is inhibited by chitosan. ► Digestion-resistant maltodextrin increases neutral sterol excretion and intestinal bioconversion of cholesterol. ► The ratio of n−6/n−3 fatty acids in faeces is significantly increased by chitosan. ► Results reveal that chitosan could be of relevant interest for balancing the ratio of n−6 and n−3 essential fatty acids. Chitosan, a deacetylated form of chitin, is a dietary fibre known for its hypolipidemic properties, which are mainly attributed to its unique cationic characteristics. We studied the selective in vivo effect of chitosan on fat excretion in order to elucidate its hypolipidemic mechanism. A 4-week longitudinal study was conducted in guinea pigs and the effect of chitosan on fat-absorption was compared to that of a soluble fibre: digestion-resistant maltodextrin. Animals were fed with high-fat isocaloric diets containing 12/100g of cellulose, digestion-resistant maltodextrin or chitosan. Subsequently, the excretion of fatty acids, neutral sterols and bile acids was determined. Chitosan selectively reduced fat absorption in comparison to digestion-resistant maltodextrin. The excretion of lauric, myristic and palmitic fatty acids of animals fed with chitosan was more than 10-, 5- and 2-fold higher, respectively, than in the cellulose group, whereas stearic acid excretion was not significantly altered. Oleic, linoleic and α-linolenic acid excretion were also significantly higher (P