The effect of lecithine on fat deposition in the liver of the normal rat

Abstract

THE very interesting effects of some component of crude lecithine upon the condition of diabetic animals have been discussed in previous communications from this laboratory [Hershey, 1930;Hershey and Soskin, 1931;Best and Hershey, 1932]. The symptoms exhibited by these animals and the autopsy findings indicate that the characteristic condition is largely attributable to failure of liver function. The results of these studies suggested that an investigation of the effect of lecithine on deposition of fat in the livers of normal animals might be profitable. 'The literature relevant to this subject has been reviewed in the monographs byLeathes and Raper [1925] and byMacLean and MacLean [1927]. As far as we know, the particular problem in which we are interested has not been investigated by previous workers. The experiments -were planned with a view to obtaining deposition of large amounts of fat in the livers of a group of control animals. This was accomplished by feeding a diet high in fairly saturated fats. A second group of animals comparable in every way, as far as we could determine, with the controls, received the same amount of fat as those in the control group and in izdition varying amounts of crude or purified lecithine. The results demonstrate, among other points, that crude and purified lecithine influence the accumulation of fat in the livers of the test group of animals. METHODS.White rats of the Wistar strain, weighing between 150 and 230 g., were used as test animals. Previous to the experiment they had been receiving a stock diet which was adequate in all respects. All the animals used in the experiment were apparently healthy, and great care was taken to ensure that the various groups into which they were divided for any one experiment were as similar as possible. Much time was wasted

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