432 V. BLOOD LIPIDS 



plasma lipids were found to increase as much as five-fold, while neutral 

 fat was augmented to seventeen times the normal value. Cholesterols 

 (both free and ester forms) were increased four times. A single injection 

 of the surface-active agent resulted in a maximum plasma lipid content of 

 2.05 milligram per cent. Blood lipids remained above 1 milligram per cent 

 for nine days following the injection. Herrmann 471 reported that the 

 administration of methionine causes a reduction in cholesterol and chole- 

 sterol esters in the blood of old hens, concomitantly with an increase of blood 

 phospholipids. Peterson and co-workers 472 likewise noted that the admin- 

 istration of soy sterols to chickens receiving cholesterol prevented the in- 

 crease in serum cholesterol which would otherwise occur. Streptomycin 

 causes hyperlipemia, presumably as the result of the inositol present in the 

 molecule. 473 



X-radiation has been shown to cause an increase in plasma phospholipid 

 in the case of the rabbit, dog, mouse, guinea pig, and rat, but the time of 

 onset of the changes varied in different species. The alteration of phos- 

 pholipid can be correlated with the time of death of the animal. 474 



(7) The Effect of Abnormal Conditions on the Level of Blood Lipids 



a. Idiopathic Familial Hyperlipemia. This is a congenital disorder in 

 which hyperlipemia is a constant accompaniment. It is an exceeding rare 

 condition which has been reported in both children and adults. The clas- 

 sical symptoms are hepatosplenomegaly (enlargement of liver and spleen), 

 xanthomatosis, lipemia retinalis, and a high level of neutral fat in the 

 blood, with only slightly elevated phospholipids and cholesterol, in the 

 absence of other conditions producing hyperlipemia. The blood fat is 

 decreased on a low-fat diet. 



Holt and co-workers 475 were unable to improve the extreme lipemia in an 

 eleven-year-old girl with idiopathic familial lipemia by means of lecithin, 

 choline, thyroxine, insulin, lipocaic or by treatment with antuitrin; how- 

 ever, the hyperlipemia could be controlled to some extent by a low-fat 

 diet. In this condition, a large amount of fat can be demonstrated in the 

 liver, which is enlarged. 475,476 It is believed that this condition is due to 



471 G. R. Herrmann, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 64, 284-285 (1947). 



472 D. W. Peterson, E. A. Shneour, N. F. Peek, and H. W. Gaffey, J. Nutrition, 50, 

 191-201 (1953). 



473 L. Mosonyi, L. Pollak, J. Juthasz, and R. Zulik, Lancet, 1951, II, 81. 



474 C. Entenman, R. A. Neve, and C. A. Olmstead, Federation Proc, 12, 40 (1953). 



476 L. E. Holt, Jr., F. X. Aylward, and H. G. Timbres, Bull. Johns Hopkins Hosp., 

 64, 279-314 (1939). 



476 0. C. Bruton and A. J. Kanter, Am. J. Diseases Children, 82, 153-159 (1951). 



