TRIGLYCERIDES AND FATTY ACIDS 205 



fat particles was from a fraction to 2 /x, or even as large as 15 to 30 /z in 

 diameter. Symptoms of toxicity include vomiting, excessive salivation, 

 pulmonary embolism and infarction, thrombophlebitis and hemolysisJ^^ 

 Anemia has also been reported.''^^'''^^ To ensure that the fat preparations 

 are harmless, it is also necessary that the stabilizers be relatively non- 

 toxic."® 



Fat preparations have frequently produced febrile reactions after being in- 

 troduced intravenously. Shafiroff and co-workers"'' reported frequent feb- 

 rile responses in patients receiving intravenous fat, probably due to the sud- 

 den plethora of fat. Lambert, Miller, and Frost^^* observed a febrile response 

 to the intravenous injection of fat in rabbits and occasionally in dogs. This 

 fat preparation, however, was found to contain no pyrogens resulting from 

 bacterial contamination. These workers suggest that the increase in body 

 temperature under these conditions is to be considered a ''thermogenic" 

 response rather than a "pyrogenic" one. The cause was believed to be the 

 rapid oxidation of the fat, the sudden influx of which temporarily over- 

 burdens the ability of the body to store it. On the other hand, Meng^'^ was 

 able to inject fat in amounts comparable to those of Lambert et alP^ with- 

 out producing a febrile reaction. However, after several months, this 

 emulsion also turned "thermogenic." A number of more recent fat emul- 

 sions do not produce the febrile reaction. 



(6) Methods for Stabilizing Emulsions. Egg lecithin has been widely and 

 successfully employed for producing fat emulsions.^^^-''*^'''^-''*^ Dunham 

 and Brunschwig^^^ also used Demal 14, which is a polyglycerol ester. Among 

 the stabilizers tested by McKibbin and associates"® are the following 

 products: Igepon T (oleyl-taurine) , cetyl phosphoric acid, edible gelatin, 

 pharmaceutical gelatins, infusion gelatins, commercial soybean phospha- 

 tides, and purified soybean phosphatides. Only the emulsion prepared with 

 purified soybean phosphatides proved to be practically non-toxic. In a 



"« J. M. McKibbin, A. Pope, S. Thayer, R. M. Ferry, Jr., and F. J. Stare, /. Lab. Clin. 

 Med., SO, 488-497 (1945). 



"' B. G. P. Shafiroff, J. H. Mulholland, and E. Roth, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 72, 

 543-547(1949). 



'38 G. F. Lambert, J. P. Miller, and D. D. Frost, Am. J. Physiol., 164, 490-496 (1951). 



'" H. C. Meng, /. Lab. Clin. Med., 37, 222-228 (1951). 



'« L. H. Mills and J. R. Murlin, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 7, 166-168 (1909-1910). 



'^^S. Yamakawa and T. Nomura, Jikken Iho, 523 (1928); cited by T. Nomura, 

 Tohoku J. Exptl. Med., 12, 247-253 (1929), p. 248; also by L. E. Holt et al., J. Pediat., 6, 

 pp. 161,ff. 



'"^T. Nomura, Tohoku J. Exptl. Med., 12, 247-253, 388-396, 497-504 (1929); 13, 

 51-64 (1929). 



'" G. Sato, Tohoku J. Exptl. Med., 18, 120-138 (1931). 



