United States Patent:  6,013,665

Assignee:  Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, IL)

Filed:  December 16, 1997

This invention relates to a method for enhancing the absorption of oil soluble (lipophilic) compounds such as oil soluble vitamins, hormones, nutrients and drugs in an animal. The inventive method comprises administering a lipophilic compound in conjunction with a structured glyceride component characterized in that at least 40% of the glyceride species have: (i) about 33 to 70 wt. % of acyl moieties having 4 to 12 carbon atoms; (ii) about 30 to 67 wt. % of acyl moieties having more than 12 carbon atoms; and (iii) an equivalent carbon number greater than 30 and less than 48. This invention also relates to compositions suitable for administrating to an animal comprising a lipophilic compound and a structured glyceride component characterized in that at least 40% of the glyceride species have: (i) about 33 to 70 wt. % of acyl moieties having 4 to 12 carbon atoms; (ii) about 30 to 67 wt. % of acyl moieties having more than 12 carbon atoms; and (iii) an equivalent carbon number greater than 30 and less than 48. The method and compositions of the invention are especially suited for animals that suffer from lipid malabsorption conditions such as Crohn's disease, Cystic fibrosis, and short bowel syndrome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has many aspects. In one broad aspect, the invention relates to the discovery that, compared to conventional oils or their physical mixtures, structured glycerides containing at least 33 wt. % of acyl moieties having 4 to 12 carbon atoms, at least 30 wt. % of acyl moieties having more than 12 carbon atoms and an equivalent carbon number ("ECN") ranging from greater than 30 to less than 48 will greatly facilitate the absorption of lipophilic compounds such as fat soluble vitamins, nutrients and drugs. Thus, the invention provides a method for enhancing the absorption of lipophilic compounds in an animal, said method comprises administering to said animal:

a) at least one lipophilic compound in conjunction with

b) a structured glyceride component containing at least 33 wt. % acyl moieties having 4 to 12 carbon atoms, at least 30 wt. % of a acyl moieties having more than 12 carbon atoms and an equivalent carbon number (ECN) of greater than 30 to less than 48.

The structured glyceride component typically includes triglycerides. A structured triglyceride useful in this invention comprises 33 to 70 wt. % acyl moieties of medium chain length (i.e. 4 to 12 carbon atoms). More preferably the medium acyl chains comprise 45 to 70 wt. %, most preferably 50 to 65 wt. %. At all weight percents, the length of the medium acyl chains is preferably 4 to 12 carbon atoms, more preferably 6 to 12, most preferably 8 to 10 carbon atoms. The 30 to 67 wt. % remainder of the structured triglyceride is typically a long chain (13-22 carbon atoms) acyl moiety. More preferably the long acyl chains comprise 30 to 55 wt. %, most preferably 35 to 50 wt. %. Preferably, said long chain acyl moiety at all weight percents comprises a long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid residue. The structured glyceride component is preferably characterized as comprising at least 40% of a species with equivalent carbon number (ECN) of greater than 30 to less than 48, more preferably ECN of about 32 to about 42.

The lipophilic compounds of this invention may be selected from oil soluble drugs, nutrients and vitamins.

The invention further provides a composition suitable for administration to an animal comprising:

a) at least one lipophilic compound and

b) a structured glyceride component containing at least 33 wt. % acyl moieties having 4 to 12 carbon atoms, at least 30 wt. % of a acyl moieties having more than 12 carbon atoms and an equivalent carbon number (ECN) of greater than 30 to less than 48.

In a further aspect, the improved method is useful in an animal that suffers from lipid malabsorption. In such a case, the composition preferably comprises at least one lipophilic compound and a structured glyceride component, said structured glyceride component comprising at least 33 wt. % acyl moieties of 4 to 12 carbon atoms; at least 30 wt. % long chain polyunsaturated acyl moieties and an equivalent carbon number (ECN) of greater than 30 to less than 48.

Claim 1 of 47 Claims

1. A method for enhancing an animal's absorption of at least one lipophilic compound, said method comprising administering to said animal:

(a) at least one lipophilic compound in conjunction with;

(b) a structured glyceride component characterized in that it contains some triglyceride species and at least 40% of the triglyceride species have:

(i) about 33 to 70 wt. % of medium chain acyl moieties having 4 to 12 carbon atoms;

(ii) about 30 to 67 wt. % of long chain acyl moieties having more than 12 carbon atoms; and

(iii) an equivalent carbon number of greater than 30 to less than 48.

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