Mathematical model of intestinal lipolysis of a long-chain triglyceride

Lipids are an important component of food and oral drug formulations. Upon release into gastrointestinal fluids, triglycerides, common components of foods and drug delivery systems, form emulsions and are digested into simpler amphiphilic lipids (e.g., fatty acids) that can associate with intestinal bile micelles and impact their drug solubilization capacity. Digestion of triglycerides is dynamic and dependent on lipid quantity and type, and quantities of other components in the intestinal environment (e.g., bile salts, lipases). The ability to predict lipid digestion kinetics in the intestine could enhance understanding of lipid impact on the fate of co-administered compounds (e.g., drugs, nutrients). In this study, we present a kinetic model that can predict the lipolysis of emulsions of triolein, a model long-chain triglyceride, as a function of triglyceride amount, droplet size, and quantity of pancreatic lipase in an intestinal environment containing bile micelles. The model is based on a Ping Pong Bi Bi mechanism coupled with quantitative analysis of partitioning of lipolysis products in colloids, including bile micelles, in solution. The agreement of lipolysis model predictions with experimental data suggests that the mechanism and proposed assumptions adequately represent triglyceride digestion in a simulated intestinal environment. In addition, we demonstrate the value of such a model over simpler, semi-mechanistic models reported in the literature. This lipolysis framework can serve as a basis for modeling digestion kinetics of different classes of triglycerides and other complex lipids as relevant in food and drug delivery systems.