442 V. BLOOD LIPIDS 



lipids 542 ; it may or may not be traced to a decreased rate of synthesis. 



Di Luzio et al. bi3 reported that, when cortisone replaced DCA, the ab- 

 normally low plasma phospholipid and cholesterol concentrations in adre- 

 nalectomized dogs were restored to their preoperative levels within a period 

 of two to three days. During a subsequent period of cortisone treatment, 

 further increases in these plasma lipids were observed. In the case of hu- 

 man patients, Adlersberg and collaborators 544 demonstrated a marked in- 

 crease in serum phospholipids and cholesterol, coincident with a decrease 

 in the neutral fat in the serum, following the administration of cortisone 

 in various diseased conditions. Following ACTH, a moderate decrease 

 in total and esterified cholesterol in the serum was noted, and a slight in- 

 crease in serum phospholipids. Adlersberg et a 7 . 645 noted average increases 

 of 15% in blood cholesterol and 26% in phospholipids simultaneously with 

 a decrease of 51% in neutral fat in the blood of patients receiving corti- 

 sone; ACTH produced much less pronounced changes. The lipid picture 

 in Cushing's pituitary basophilism and in the adrenocortical syndrome 

 involving cortical stimulation does not show any regular decrease. 533,546 " 649 



Since the advent of cortisone, considerable new information has been 

 amassed concerning its effect on the general lipid constituents of the blood. 

 Thus, in man, cortisone therapy results in an increased concentration of 

 cholesterol and of phospholipids in the serum, and in a decrease in the 

 serum neutral fat. 550,551 In the case of rats, total and esterified cholesterol, 

 as well as lipid phosphorus, are increased in the serum following treatment 

 with cortisone. 552,553 The effect of cortisone was not manifest in adrenalec- 

 tomized rats maintained with desoxycorticosterone acetate. 552 



In rabbits, also, the administration of adrenal extract and cortisone 

 has been shown to cause an increase in the cholesterol, lipid phosphorus, 

 and total fatty acids of the serum. 539,554,655 Moreover, adrenocorticotropic 

 hormone (ACTH) produces fatty infiltration of the liver both in the case 

 of the rabbit 555 and in the rat. 556 However, adrenalectomy was shown to 

 prevent fat mobilization in the liver of rats given ACTH, 526,527 while corti- 

 sone was unable to effect an infiltration of fat in the liver in intact or in 

 adrenalectomized mice. 557 Lipid granules did occur, however, in the he- 

 patic cells of intact rabbits treated with cortisone. 555 



The adrenal cortex is of importance in the regulation of ketonuria . The 



644 D. Adlersberg, L. E. Schaefer, and R. Dritch, J. Clin. Endocrinol, 10, 814-815 

 (1950). 



645 D. Adlersberg, L. E. Schaefer, and R. Dritch, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 74, 

 877-879 (1950). 



646 G. Giraud, J. Margarot, and P. Rimbaud, Presse mid., 43, 841-843 (1935). 

 * 47 K. H. Hildebrand, Klin. Wochschr., 14, 951-957 (1935). 



