THE RÔLE OF THE LUNG IN THE METABOLISM OF FAT

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Abstract
Experiments were performed on dogs in an attempt to evaluate the role of the lung in the metabolism of fat; the analysis for fat in the blood was carried out by Bloor''s method and for fat in the blood and tissues by Leathes'' method. Specimens of lung were removed for analysis under aseptic conditions, and the experiments were performed after the animal had fully recovered. The fat adminis-tered was a measured amount of 30% cream, which the animals drank voluntarily. In some experiments, je-junostomy was performed aseptically at the time the specimen of lung was removed, and the fat was administered through the stoma after the animal had recovered from the immediate effects of the operation. To ascertain whether the fat was actually absorbed, the amount of fat in the lung and bowel was estimated at necropsy; the fat in the lung had not increased, nor was there any appreciable difference in the amount of fat in the blood proximal and distal to the lung, as stated by various previous workers. The results were checked histologically. It was not possible to demonstrate that the content of fat in the lung increased following the intravenous injection of citrated chyle obtained from a dog fed on fat. However, in 1 experiment, in which a highly emulsified preparation of fat was injected intravenously, there was a huge increase of fat in the lung, and a definite diminution of fat in the blood from the femoral artery as compared with blood removed from the right ventricle. The results do not support the supposition that the lung plays an especial role in the metabolism of fat.

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