BLOOD LIPIDS OF THE HYPOPHYSECTOMIZEDTHYROIDECTOMIZED DOG1

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Abstract
The content of free and esterified cholesterol, phospholipids and total fatty acids in whole blood of dogs subjected to excision of both hypophysis and thyroid glands was investigated. The hypophysis was excised first. Three wks. later the thyroid gland was removed. Completeness of hypophysectomy was established at necropsy in all 9 dogs recorded. The total period of observation extended from 201 to 516 days; for 70 to 419 days of this period the dogs were deprived of both hypophyseal and thyroid tissue. In 3 of the dogs the lipid levels of the blood were examined at repeated in- tervals for well over one year after both glands had been removed. Although the diets received by all 9 dogs were not the same, in the case of each dog the same diet was fed daily during 3 intervals a), the control period, b), the interval between hypophysectomy and thyroidectomy and c), after thyroidectomy. The conc. of all lipid constituents was markedly increased in the blood. In none did the levels of free and ester cholesterol, phospholipid and total fatty acid fail to increase after both glands had been excised. The uniformly striking and rapid increases in the conc. of blood lipids that occurred after removal of the 2d gland (i.e., the thyroid gland), as compared with the slight and irregular response after hypophysectomy alone, suggest that an acute deficiency in the thyroid hormone per se is responsible for the high conc. of the blood lipids in the hypophysectomized-thyroidectomized dog.