Effect of Inanition on the Phospholipid Fatty Acids of the Rat.

Abstract

Terroine and Belin1 have asserted that the lipid component of the element constant of whole animals and individual tissues represents the phospholipids of normal animals, and that the degree of unsaturation of the fatty acids of the element constant (i. e., the phospholipid) is an invariable characteristic, quite independent of the type of diet. The latter assertion is quite at variance with the observations of the author.2The element constant of Terroine represents the residual substance of animals which have died of inanition. On the other hand, the data obtained by the author apply solely to the acetone-insoluble lipids of normal, well-fed animals. This distinct difference suggests the possibility that normal animals contain reserve phospholipid which alone is influenced in its composition by the type of diet and which disappears on fasting.The data in the accompanying table show that in fasting rats the decrease in phospholipid fatty acids is roughly proportional to the decrease in the weight of the a...