Fibrinogen in rat gastrointestinal lymph before, during and after intraduodenal administration of emulsified triglyceride: Fibrinogen bound to chylomicrons in gastrointestinal lymph is functional

Samples of gastrointestinal lymph were collected from fasted, male, Sprague–Dawley rats before, during and after intraduodenal administration of either a phospholipid-stabilized, triglyceride-rich emulsion or the dextrose–saline diluent of the emulsion. In lipid-treated rats, the triglyceride, total protein, and functional fibrinogen contents of lymph increased significantly during the 4 h of continuous lipid infusion, with all analytes returning to near baseline values by 20 h later. Levels of the same analytes changed little, if at all, in control animals. As assessed using immunoblotting, chylomicrons in gastrointestinal lymph are coated with fibrinogen. Fibrinogen-coated chylomicrons readily incorporate into solution phase clots and, in the presence of thrombin, adhere in heparin-preventable fashion to each other and to other fibrinogen-coated surfaces. Taken together, these data indicate that lipid feeding creates in gastrointestinal lymph a condition that is conducive temporally to the physical association of fibrinogen with newly ingested lipids before they reach the circulatory system.