Unsaponifiable fraction of lipid from normal and diseased human kidney

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Abstract
The unsaponifiable matter from a variety of specimens of "normal" human kidney has been studied. The percentage of unsaponifiable matter is about 0.33, of which about 2/3 is cholesterol. The quantitatively minor constituents include vitamin A (about 0-1 mg/100 g), ubiquinone, substance SC and tocopherol, each about 1 mg/100 g. In all cases when the medulla and cortex were separated by dissection the tocopherol was found to occur only in the medulla. Kidneys from females were on the average richer in tocopherol than those from males. Sixteen specimens of diseased kidney tissue have been studied. The ubiquinone content was similar to that found in "normal" kidneys. The vitamin A content was not much changed. Tocopherol was not found in nephritic kidneys from females but nephritic kidneys from males contained normal amounts. Tocopherylquinone was often found in nephritic kidneys lacking tocopherol. It is possible that tocopherylquinone is an intermediate in the destruction of vitamin E. Normal human kidney is (next to liver from vitamin A-deficient rats) the best source yet found for substance SC. This substance cannot be detected in diseased human kidneys. In 4 cases of subacute chronic nephritis, in which the kidneys were large and pale, the percentages of unsaponifiable matter and in particular of cholesterol were much larger than in "normal" kidneys. The change was much less marked in chronic nephritis and acute nephritis.