Library · Physiology
Fat absorption through the lymph
Make it clearer
Carrying dietary fat from the intestine into the bloodstream is a function of the lymphatic system.
The cells that line the intestine, the enterocytes, package the lipids from food: they assemble particles called chylomicrons, which are lipoproteins. Those packages enter the lymph through special lymphatic capillaries of the small intestine called lacteals.
Lymph from the digestive tract has a name of its own, chyle, and a look of its own: it appears milky mainly because of the fat it carries. Think of milk leaving the intestine through a separate pipe.
From there the chyle reaches the thoracic duct, which receives it from the intestinal lymphatic trunk, and the lymphatic ducts empty it into the venous system, that is, into the blood.
In brief
Absorbing dietary fat and moving it from the intestine into the bloodstream is a function of the lymphatic system.
Enterocytes package dietary lipids into chylomicrons, lipoproteins that enter the lymph through the lacteals of the small intestine.
Lymph from the digestive tract is called chyle, and it looks milky mainly because of the fat it carries.
Milk leaving the intestine through a separate pipe.
The thoracic duct receives the chyle from the intestinal lymphatic trunk, and the lymphatic ducts empty it into the venous system.
Sources (3)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Lymphatic System, StatPearlsPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingBiochemistry, Chylomicron, StatPearlsPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingAnatomy, Lymphatic System, StatPearlsPublished
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