Absorption of medium chain triglycerides in the stomach of the human infant.

Following previous observations that medium chain triglycerides (MCT) are absorbed from the stomach of suckling rats, this study was devoted to studying absorption of MCTs in human infants. Four groups of patients were studied: (a) infants suffering from pyloric stenosis, (b) premature infants, (c) children suffering from cystic fibrosis, (d) infants with miscellaneous conditions. Infant formulae with known amounts of MCT were introduced by gastric tube and samples were removed at 0, 20, 40, and 60 min.