Further investigations of lipid metabolism in a patient with hyperlipemia, hypokalemia, and tetany

Abstract

Summary 1. Further investigations of the lipid fractions have been undertaken on plasma from a previously described patient with hyperlipemia, electrolyte derangement and hypokalemia, and periodic tetany. 1 For contrast, plasma was analyzed from the patient's mother (also lipemic), from a patient with nephrosis, and from 2 normal children. In the previous paper 1 the theory was advanced that the elevation of esterified, fatty acids in Patient A. S. was related to a disturbance in electrolyte transport. 2. The present study demonstrates that thispatient (A. S.) has a rise in concentration of phosphatidyl ethanolamine in her plasma, increased esterified fatty acids, and increased mobility of beta lipoprotein. The latter finding is dependent on the mixture of excess fatty acids in the plasma. 3. It remains for the results of animal experimentsto provide a suggestion as to the role played by the fatty acids and triglycerides in electrolyte transport.