Utilization and metabolism of [U-14C]4' galactosyllactose (O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-(1----4)-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-(1----4)- D-glucopyranose) in rats

O-beta-D-Galactopyranosyl-(1----4)-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl- (1----4)-D-glucopyranose (designated as 4'GL) are produced from lactose with Cryptococcus laurentii OKN-4. Excretion and metabolism of 4'GL in rats were examined using a radioisotope technique. U-14c]4'GL was synthesized from U-14C]lactose by Cryptococcus laurentii OKN-4. The 14CO2 in expired air was counted after oral administration of U-14C]4'GL or U-14C]lactose in conventional rats, rats treated with antibiotics and germ-free rats. The rate of 14CO2 excretion from conventional rats given U-14C]4'GL was slower than that from those administered U-14C]lactose. When U-14C]4'GL was orally administered to rats given antibiotics, there was a 2-h delay in 14CO2 excretion, as compared to conventional rats. In germ-free rats, total excretion of 14CO2 from U-14C]-4'GL decreased to about one-third of that of conventional rats during a 24-h period. Radioactivities in the serum, liver, and carcass of the U-14C]4'GL oral administration group were lower than those of the U-14C]lactose oral administration group. Radioactivities in the feces and urine however, were higher in U-14C]4'GL group than in U-14C]lactose group.