Studies on the metabolism of calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate in the rat, mouse, guinea-pig and man

The absorption, metabolism, tissue distribution and excretion of ¹⁴C-labelled calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate (CSL) was compared with that of [U-¹⁴C]lactic acid in the mouse and the guinea-pig. A comparison was also made of the rates of hydrolysis of CSL by various tissue preparations from the rat, mouse, guinea-pig and man. In both mice and guinea-pigs, the metabolism and tissue distribution of radioactivity from [U-¹⁴C]lactate-labelled CSL were similar to those of an equivalent dose of free [U-¹⁴C]lactate, with the majority of the radioactivity rapidly excreted as ¹⁴CO₂. Homogenates of liver and intestinal mucosa from the rat, mouse and guinea-pig rapidly hydrolysed CSL to lactic acid and stearic acid, and whole blood from rats and mice also hydrolysed the compound, but at a much slower rate. Although no significant hydrolysis of CSL was detected using human blood, the single sample of human duodenal mucosa rapidly hydrolysed the compound to stearic and lactic acids. These studies suggest that the biological fate of CSL is similar in all the species investigated and that the compound is unlikely to present a hazard to man in terms of its metabolic fate.