Use of radioactive compounds to determine fat absorption

Claim 1

A method of determining the degree of fat or fatty acid absorption in a mammal, said method comprising orally administering to said mammal a measured amount of a radio-active compound of the formula wherein X is a moiety selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, alkoxy of 1-3 carbon atoms and alkyl of 1-4 carbon atoms, Hal is a halogen selected from the group consisting of chlorine, bromine and iodine, R is a moiety selected from the group consisting of carboxyl, COO Me wherein Me is a pharmaceutically acceptable metal and COOR'' wherein R'' is aliphatic hydrocarbon of up to two carbon atoms unsubstituted or substituted with up to two hydroxy groups, m 0 or 1, n 0, 1 or 2, p 2-20 inclusive and wherein the broken line denoted by r.a. denotes that the part of the compound enclosed by the broken line is radioactively labeled the degree of absorption of said radioactive compound having a previously determined and constant relationship to the degree of absorption of a fat or fatty acid, said radioactive compound when absorbed through the intestinal wall metabolizing to form at least one radioactive metaBolite eliminated in the urine of said mammal, the total amount of said radioactive metabolite in said urine bearing a constant relationship to the total amount of the specific radioactive compound administered and determining by radioactive measurement the total amount of said radioactive metabolite in the urine.

Claim 2

A method of determining the degree of fat or fatty acid absorption in a mammal, said method comprising orally administering to said mammal a measured amount of a radio-active compound of the formula wherein X is a moiety selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, alkoxy of 1-3 carbon atoms and alkyl of 1-4 carbon atoms, Hal is a halogen selected from the group consisting of chlorine, bromine and iodine, R is a moiety selected from the group consisting of carboxyl, COO Me wherein Me is a pharmaceutically acceptable metal and COOR'' wherein R'' is aliphatic hydrocarbon of up to two carbon atoms unsubstituted or substituted with up to two hydroxy groups, m 0 or 1, n 0, 1 or 2, p 2-20 inclusive and wherein the broken line denoted by r.a. denotes that the part of the compound enclosed by the broken line is radioactively labeled the degree of absorption of said radioactive compound having a previously determined and constant relationship to the degree of absorption of a fat or fatty acid, said radioactive compound when absorbed through the intestinal wall metabolizing to form at least one radioactive metaBolite eliminated in the urine of said mammal, the total amount of said radioactive metabolite in said urine bearing a constant relationship to the total amount of the specific radioactive compound administered and determining by radioactive measurement the total amount of said radioactive metabolite in the urine.