414 V. BLOOD LIPIDS 



retti 352 repeated these studies, by the use of iodized fats; they observed a 

 rise in the levels of total fat, fatty acid, and phospholipid in the corpuscles 

 and plasma, although the increase was slight. On the other hand, Vahl- 

 quist 353 was unable to observe any increase in cell phospholipid after fat 

 feeding, and this result was also obtained by Bloor in his later work. 7 One 

 must conclude, as a result of these findings, that the ingestion of neutral 

 fat is normally followed by a rise in the blood phospholipids, which may 

 or may not be reflected in the erythrocytes. 



c'. The Effect of the Ingestion of Fat on Blood Cholesterol: The 

 results of various workers have given quite variable answers to the question 

 as to whether or not the administration of fat causes a concomitant rise 

 in the blood cholesterol level. Terroine, 226 Reicher, 339 Widal et al., 35i 

 Bloor, Gillette, and James, 225 and Li and Freeman 335 reported positive re- 

 sults on dogs, and Milbradt 356 confirmed the findings on rabbits. However, 

 Bloor, 223 in his earlier studies, was unable to demonstrate any change in 

 blood cholesterol following the feeding of fat. Blix 255 and Bang 348 like- 

 wise obtained negative results on dogs. In those instances in which the 

 findings were positive, it was observed that the cholesterol : fatty acid 

 ratio remained approximately constant. 



Most of the earlier data on human subjects failed to produce convincing 

 evidence that hypercholesterolemia is a necessary concomitant of a fat 

 meal. Thus Hiller el al. 3i0 noted only irregular increases in blood chole- 

 sterol after fat feeding, and no uniformity in the cholesterol : fatty acid ratio 

 obtained. Brun 218 failed to demonstrate alterations in blood cholesterol, 

 while Turner and Steiner 282 reported that the blood cholesterol in man is 

 remarkably independent of food intake. On the other hand, Wendt 351 

 found definite evidence that hypercholesterolemia followed the ingestion 

 of olive oil; however, the increase in cholesterol took place only in the 

 plasma. Several reports indicate that a higher blood cholesterol may 

 occur when the fat intake is high. For example, Schmidt-Thome" and 

 associates 357 noted that the serum cholesterol declined in normal subjects 

 in Germany over the years 1942 to 1947, which coincided with the period 

 of increasing fat shortages. Over this interval, total cholesterol dropped 

 from 191 to 160 milligram per cent, free cholesterol decreased from 51 



352 C. Artom and G. Pedretti, Boll. soc. Hal. biol. sper., 7, 980-984 (1932). 



353 B. Vahlquist, Biochem. J., 25, 1628-1633 (1931). 



354 F. Widal, A. Weill, and M. Laudat, Semaine med., 82, 529-531 (1912). 

 356 T. W. Li and S. Freeman, Am. J. Physiol, 145, 660-666 (1946). 



356 W. Milbradt, Biochem. Z., 223, 278-322 (1930). 



357 H. Schmidt-Thorn^, G. Schettler, and H. Goebel, Z. physiol. Chem., 283, 63-68 

 (1948). 



