LIPID STORAGE UNDER ABNORMAL CONDITIONS 687 



cholesterol, but in only a small increase in liver fat. On diets which would 

 normally produce fatty livers, no deposition of excess liver fat occurred 

 following thyroidectomy. 877 Moreover, Handler and Fallis 881 found that a 

 decrease in thyroid activity prevented or retarded the development of hepa- 

 tic necrosis and fibrosis associated with choline and cystine deficiencies. 

 Thyroid feeding was shown to hasten the death of choline-deficient or cys- 

 tine-deficient animals. In the first case, the liver contained little fat, and 

 presented no necrosis. However, in the second instance, the livers exhibi- 

 ted acute necrosis. The existence of an already established fatty liver 

 appeared to protect the rat against thyrotoxicosis. 



(i) Fatty Livers Resulting from the Ingestion of Alcohol. Ashworth 882 

 found that fatty infiltration of the liver occurred in rats when they were 

 given alcohol daily, with either a high or a low casein diet. The experi- 

 ments were interpreted as indicative of the fact that alcohol exerts an effect 

 which permits an accumulation of fat within the liver cells. This effect is 

 separate from that of the extrinsic deficiency of lipotropic factors. Phillips 

 et al. S8Z arrived at a somewhat different conclusion, on the basis of their 

 study of three alcoholics suffering from fatty cirrhotic livers. No improve- 

 ment in liver function was observed when a purified diet was given, but a 

 marked improvement in hepatic function, with a decrease in hepatic fat, re- 

 sulted from the administration of an adequate diet for eight to ten days. 

 This ration consisted of 2000 to 2200 Calories made up of 80 to 100 g. pro- 

 tein, 200 to 250 g. carbohydrate, and 110 g. fat daily. The improvement 

 observed was considered to be mainly due to the adequate diet, and not 

 merely to withdrawal of the alcohol, which played only a subsidiary role. 883 



(j) Fatty Livers Resulting from Irradiation. Chevallier and his associa- 

 tes 884 demonstrated that fatty livers develop in rats receiving various suble- 

 thal doses of x-irradiation daily. 



(k) Miscellaneous Lipotropic Factors. In addition to the common lipo- 

 tropic agents, several less well-known compounds have been shown to exert 

 a similar action. Maw and du Vigneaud 885 demonstrated that dimethylpro- 

 piothetin isolated from the red marine alga, Polysiphonia fastigiata, has 

 lipotropic properties. Amellin, a substance, reputedly of therapeutic value 

 in diabetes mellitus, obtained from the sweet broomwort (Scoparia dulcis 



881 P. Handler and R. H. Fallis, Jr., /. Nutrition, 35, 669-687 (1948). 



882 C. T. Ashworth, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 66, 382-385 (1947). 



883 G. B. Phillips, G. J. Gabuzda, Jr., and C. S. Davidson, /. Clin. Invest., 31, 351-356 

 (1952). 



884 A. Chevallier, C. Burg, and H. Spehler, Compt. rend. soc. biol, 147, 497-500 (1953). 

 886 G. A. Maw and V. du Vigneaud, J. Biol. Chem., 176, 1037-1045 (1948). 



