582 VI. OCCURRENCE OF LIPIDS IN THE ANIMAL 



The studies on the oldest group of men (54.6 yr.) and women (56.0 yr.) 

 investigated by Brozek 265 also show that the greater thickness of the sub- 

 cutaneous layer in women is a generalized phenomenon. The following 

 figures are reported for the breadth of the fat layer in these several areas in 

 men and in women respectively 166 : above the patella, 9.4 and 17.2 mm.; 

 dorsal part of upper arm, 15.4 and 27.0 mm. ; and abdomen, 26.0 and 34.8 

 mm. The upper trunk showed lesser variations. Additional data of 

 Brozek et aZ. 256 have been cited earlier (see page 575). 



De Smet 269 observed that, following castration, male rats present an in- 

 crease in the fat content under the skin and around the kidneys, while there 

 is a concomitant decrease in abdominal fat. When female rats are ovariec- 

 tomized, an increase in the fat storage in the abdominal and kidney areas 

 occurs, while the carcass fat shows a simultaneous decrease. In a later re- 

 port, De Smet 270 noted that, following castration in adult male rats, an ini- 

 tial decrease in total lipids occurred; this was followed by an increase. In 

 the case of female rats, an immediate rise in total body lipids was noted, 

 following the removal of the gonads. 



(c) The Effect on the Fat Content of Specific Tissues. Greisheimer 271 was 

 the first to point out that male rats fed on various diets had a higher level of 

 liver glycogen and a lower figure for liver fat than was noted in the female 

 animals. An analysis of the data of Ponsford and Smedley-MacLean 272 

 on the liver glycogen and liver fat in rats after the administration of the 

 salts of several organic acids is especially convincing, although these in- 

 vestigators do not comment on this fact. The liver fats (expressed in per 

 cent) for the male and female rats, respectively, in the several groups were as 

 follows: control group, 7.43, 8.30; acetate group, 4.63, 6.24; fumarate 

 group, 3.10, 4.97; malate group, 4.04, 5.09; succinate group, 3.90, 4.81; 

 and glucose group, 4.34, 5.73. Although Deuel and co-workers 273 were 

 unable to demonstrate a sex difference in the level of liver lipids of unfasted 

 rats, they found increasingly higher values for liver lipids in the females, as 

 compared with the males, during a subsequent fasting period. In the 

 experiments of Gulick et al. 27i on ovariectomized rats, the values for liver 

 glycogen (which behaves in a manner opposite to that of liver lipids) of 

 fasted operated animals were similar to those for males, thus indicating that 



269 J. De Smet, Compt. rend. soc. biol, 147, 542-544 (1953). 



270 J. De Smet, Compt. rend. soc. biol., 147, 726-729 (1953). 



271 E. Greisheimer, J. Nutrition, 4, 411-418 (1931). 



272 A. P. Ponsford and I. Smedley-MacLean, Biochem. J., 26, 1340-1344 (1932). 



273 H. J. Deuel, Jr., M. Gulick, C. F. Grunewald, and C. H. Cutler, J. Biol. Chem., 104, 

 519-530(1934). 



274 M. Gulick, L. T. Samuels, and H. J. Deuel, Jr., J. Biol. Chem., 105, 29-34 (1934). 



