Studies on absorption and metabolism of palatinose (isomaltulose) in rats.

We evaluated the absorption and metabolism of palatinose in rats by the carbohydrate load test and the 13C- and H2-breath tests. We compared the results of these tests with those of sucrose, since sucrose is an isomer of palatinose and generally known to be degraded and absorbed from the small intestine. In the carbohydrate load test, blood glucose and plasma insulin levels after oral administration of palatinose rose more gradually and reached a maximum that was lower than that after sucrose administration. In the 13C-breath test, rats were orally administrated [1-13C]sucrose or [1-13C]palatinose and housed in a chamber. The expired air in the chamber was collected, and the level of 13CO2 in the expired air was measured at appropriate intervals for 360 min. The value of time taken to reach the maximum concentration for expired 13CO2 from [1-13Cglucose] ([1-13Cglc]) and [1-13Cfructose] ([1-13Cfru]) palatinose was significantly longer than that from [1-13Cglc] and [1-13Cfru]sucrose, respectively. The value of area under the curve (AUC) for [1-13Cglc]palatinose was larger than that for [1-13Cglc]sucrose, but AUC for [1-13Cfru] showed no difference between palatinose and sucrose. In the H2-breath test, the concentration of H2 in the expired air was measured for 420 min. H2 was hardly detected with both palatinose and sucrose and no significant difference was observed between the two groups. These results suggest that palatinose is utilised in vivo at a rate equal to that of sucrose.

Is glycemic index of food a feasible predictor of appetite, hunger, and satiety?

This review assesses the feasibility of using glycemic index (GI) as a predictor of appetite, hunger and satiety by surveying published human intervention studies. We also discuss the relationship between GI and two appetite/satiety control hormones, leptin and ghrelin. Ingestion of high-GI food increased hunger and lowered satiety in short-term human intervention studies. This effect may be attributed to the rapid decline in blood glucose level following a hyperinsulinemic response caused by a sharp and transient increase in blood glucose level that occurs after the ingestion of high-GI food, which is defined as the glucostatic theory. However, appetite, hunger and satiety after the ingestion of foods with varying GI were inconsistent among long-term human intervention studies. From the few relevant long-term studies available, we selected two recent well-designed examples for analysis, but they failed to elicit clear differences in glycemic and insulinemic responses between high- and low-GI meals (consisting of a combination of different foods or key carbohydrate-rich foods incorporated into habitual diets). One of the reasons that these studies could not predict glycemic response to mixed meals is presumably that the GI of each particular food was not reflected in that of the mixed meals as a whole. Thus, it is difficult to conclude that the GI values of foods or mixed meals are a valid long-term predictor for appetite, hunger and satiety. Both insulin and insulin-mediated glucose uptake and metabolism in adipose tissue affect blood leptin concentration and its diurnal pattern. Circulating ghrelin level is suppressed by carbohydrate-rich meals, presumably via glycemia and insulinemia. Accordingly, low-GI foods may not necessarily increase satiety or suppress appetite and/or hunger because of the lack of insulin-mediated leptin stimulation and ghrelin suppression. However, insulin-mediated leptin stimulation and ghrelin suppression per se is not consistent among studies; thus we were not able to identify a clear relationship among GI, satietogenic leptin, and appetitic ghrelin.

Inhibitory action of palatinose and its hydrogenated derivatives on the hydrolysis of alpha-glucosylsaccharides in the small intestine.

This study was conducted to investigate the inhibitory effects of palatinose and Palatinit, which are disaccharides (or disaccharide alcohol) connected through an alpha-1,6-glucosyl linkage, on the hydrolysis of other carbohydrates, using an enzyme extract from the rat small intestine and a purified sucrase-isomaltase complex. Palatinose and its hydrogenated product, Palatinit, an equimolar mixture of alpha-O-D-glucopyranosyl-1,6-D-sorbitol (GPS) and alpha-O-D-glucopyranosyl-1,6-D-mannitol (GPM), inhibited the hydrolysis of sucrose and maltose. Palatinose and Palatinit also inhibited the hydrolysis of dextrin and soluble starch. Kinetic analysis of the enzymatic inhibition by GPS and GPM on sucrose hydrolysis revealed that both GPS and GPM competitively inhibit sucrase catalytic activity. These results suggest that disaccharides with an alpha-1,6-glucosyl linkage competitively inhibit intestinal alpha-glucosidases and may reduce the rate of hydrolysis of sucrose and other alpha-glucosylsaccharides.

Inhibitory effect of palatinose on glucose absorption in everted rat gut.

We previously reported that the increase in blood glucose was more suppressed when palatinose was taken with sucrose or glucose than when either of these sugars was taken alone. In the present study, we examined whether or not palatinose suppresses glucose absorption using everted intestinal sacs from rats. Glucose absorption in the everted rat intestinal sac was measured with 0, 1, 2.5 or 5 mM of palatinose added to 20 mM glucose. The measurement was repeated five times for each palatinose level to calculate a mean value. The result showed glucose absorption to be reduced as the palatinose level increased. It was significantly reduced when 5 mM palatinose was added as compared with no palatinose addition (p<0.05). These results suggest that palatinose suppresses glucose absorption.

The effect of palatinose on mental concentration in humans.

We investigated the effect of palatinose on mental concentration using the Uchida-Kraepelin psycho diagnostic test. A significant increase (p<0.01) in calculation ability was observed in both the sucrose and palatinose groups after administration. Although calculation ability in the sucrose group at 150 min decreased from the level achieved at 90 min in the same group, that in the palatinose group at 150 min decreased only slightly from the level achieved at 90 min. At the same time points, significant increases were observed even when 5 g of palatinose was administered.