204 III. OXIDATION AND METABOLISM 



great research activity in the field of parenteral fat administration is evi- 

 dent from the fact that Johnson^-^ had compiled a bibliography of 170 items 

 up to September 1951 ; about one-half of these are for the period subsequent 

 to 1940. 



a. Subcutaneous Administration of Fat. Von Leube/-* in 1895, first 

 called attention to the possible nutritional value of fats given subcutane- 

 ously. He noted the rapid disappearance of very large injections of cam- 

 phorated oil from the site of administration. The results of daily subcu- 

 taneous injections of butterfat into an emaciated dog, over a period of six 

 weeks, indicated that fats given hypodermically were of distinct value in 

 nutrition. Although Winternitz^-^ and Henderson and Crofutt"" dis- 

 counted the effectiveness of admmistermg fat subcutaneously, and sug- 

 gested that the absorption is too slow to be practical, Mills^^' demonstrated 

 the absorption of a variety of fats and oils when administered to cats by the 

 subcutaneous route. He suggested the application of such injections in the 

 treatment of wasting diseases, and in cachectic conditions associated with 

 imperfect metabolic processes, and especially in tuberculosis, in which the 

 intolerance to fats is almost symptomatic. 



b. Intravenous Administration of Fat. According to Holt et al.,''^^ only 

 a few instances of intravenous fat administration had been recorded prior 

 to 1935, but these had in some cases been successful. Murlin and Riche^** 

 followed the respiratory quotient in two dogs after fat had been given in- 

 travenously. Since the changes in R. Q. were comparable to those resulting 

 after fat was given orally,^'* it was concluded that intravenously-injected 

 fat was normally metabolized. The results of Holt et alP"^ demonstrated 

 that lecithin-stabilized fats were satisfactorily utilized by normal infants. 



(a) Cause of Toxicity of Fat Preparations for Intravenous Use. A number 

 of the earlier products used for parenteral fat feeding proved to be toxic. 

 One of the conditions which may render a preparation unsatisfactory for 

 intravenous use is the presence of too large fat globules. Thus, in the 

 preparation of Dunham and Brunschwig,^*^ one-third of the dogs died dur- 

 ing the injections of emulsified oUve oil or lard oil in which the size of the 



^^' E. Johnson, Intravenous Injection of Fats and Oils for Nutritive Purposes. Bibliog- 

 raphy, Army Med. Library (Reference Div.), Washington, D. C, Dec. 12, 1951. 

 728 \Y. Von Leube, Sitzungsber. physik.-rned. Ges. Wiirzhurg, 1895, No. 1, 5-11. 

 "s H. Winternitz, Z. klm. Med., 50, 80-101 (1903). 

 "0 Y. Henderson and E. F. Crofutt, Am. J. Physiol, U, 193-202 (1905). 

 "1 L. H. Mills, Arch. Internal Med., 7, 694-719 (1911). 



"2 L. E. Holt, Jr., H. C. Tidvvell, and T. McNair Scott, /. Pediat., 6, 151-160 (1935). 

 "3 J. R. Murlin and J. A. Riche, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 13, 7-8 (1915). 

 "* J. R. Murlin and G. Lusk, J. Biol. Chem., 22, 15-41 (1915). 

 "6 L. J. Dunham and A. Brunschwig, Arch. Surg., 48, 395-405 (1944). 



