Fat-deficiency disease of rats. The storage of fat in the fat-starved rat

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Rats were kept on a fat-free diet for 172 to 330 days and the proportions of (a) total lipid and (b) arachidonic acid to fat-free dry wt. detd. in skin, liver and carcass. In the subcutan. tissue the proportion of total lipid increased with the duration of fat-starvation. The proportion of lipid to fat-free dry wt. showed no diminution from the corresponding values in a rat which had received linseed oil in addition to the fat-free diet throughout the whole period. There was therefore no evidence of any diminished fat storage in the fat-starved rat. From the 6th to the 11th mos. of fat-starvation, there was very little change in the ratio of arachidonic acid to fat-free dry wt. in skin, liver and carcass. The proportion of arachidonic acid was very low in the subcutan. tissue of the fat-starved rat. The level in the liver rose immediately and markedly on giving minimal doses of the curative acid even for a short period. The addition of choline to the diet produced no significant effect.