Abstract
A series of 9 newborn infants, all weighing under 2500 g., were investigated as to their cholesterol levels at the time of birth and compared with their mothers. It was found that the serum cholesterol levels of the immature infant were about the same as that of the full-term baby and that the degree of prematurity did not influence the values found. There was no relationship between the levels of the mother and offspring. The relationship in both the mother and child of the free and ester fractions of cholesterol was found to be approx. 30% and 70%, respectively. The paper suggests that the low cholesterol levels that are present in the serum of the prematurely born infant as well as that of the term newborn may be due to the depressant action of estrogenic hormones of the mother.

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