Intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IALP) activity rises following the ingestion of a fat-containing meal. Previous studies on intestinal fluid and lymph have shown that the magnitude of this response is dependent upon fatty acid chain length. To examine this relation in the serum of healthy humans, 10 subjects consumed two standardized fat meals. One meal contained predominantly long chain fatty acid triglycerides, the other contained predominantly medium chain fatty acid triglycerides. Serum IALP activity was measured in serial blood samples using a sensitive immunological assay. IALP activity was ABO blood group and secretor status dependent. The post-prandial rise in serum IALP activity was significantly greater following the long chain fatty acid meal than following the medium chain fatty acid meal. Previous observations of the fatty acid chain length dependency of the IALP response to fat ingestion, therefore, also apply in the serum of healthy humans under normal physiological conditions. Standardized fat meals provide the basis of a useful method for the investigation of the role of IALP in fat absorption.
