408 Fatty Acids in Human Blood 
cating in addition to oleic acid the presence of other both higher 
and lower unsaturated fatty acids in small amounts. 
In pathological conditions, we have found that a generally 
higher proportion of unsaturated fatty acids than the normal aver- 
age occurs, and that the iodine absorption power of the unsatu- 
rated fatty acids as well as their absolute amount is higher. We 
may divide the we thological cases according to their hemoglobin 
content into two groups: (A) normal hemoglobin, and (B) low 
hemoglobin. 
TABLE IV. 
Group A. Group B. 
Case. ‘ Hemoglobin.| Iodine No. Case. Hemoglobin.| Iodine No. 
per cent per cent 
13 105 92.8 " 63 142.4 
14 100 1 es 8 15 94.8 
16 85 78.3 9 26 101.6 
17 94 89.8 10 35 107.8 
18 90 86.0 11 58 71.8 
19 83 101.2 a2 15 110.9 
| 15 68 136.6 
The high iodine numbers representing unsaturated fatty acids 
with higher degree of unsaturation than oleic acid are found in 
Group B, but we should not forget that in the same group we deal 
with an abnormally low red cell count. Munk and Friedenthal!’ | 
found an increase of fat in red corpuscles during fat absorption, and 
Bloor!® suggested that most, if not all, fat metabolized through 
lecithin, and that lecithin formation is a result of red cell activity. 
In anemia, where the number of red cells is lowered, probably the 
fat metabolism is disturbed; and as a fact we find the amount 
of lecithin as well as other lipoid substances generally lower than 
that in normal human blood. It would seem that these lipoid 
substances especially require the unsaturated fatty acids as a 
radical in their formation. The higher iodine value found es- 
pecially in those cases where the lipoids are low suggests a re- 
sultant excess of unsaturated fatty acids and not necessarily an 
increased desaturation of fatty acids by stimulated liver activity. 
17 Munk, I., and Friedenthal, H., Centr. Physzol., 1901-02, xv, 297. 
18 Bloor, J. Biol. Chem., 1916, xxiv, 447. 
