Lecithinæmia following the Administration of Fat

Abstract

ABOUT two hours after the administration of a meal containing fat, the fat content of the blood begins to rise. Bloor¹ found that when olive oil is administered to a dog, besides an increase in the neutral fat content of the blood an increase in its lecithin content also takes place. The average increase was found to be about 20 per cent. A maximum is reached after four hours. Bloor was inclined to ascribe the lecithin formed after the administration and resorption of the neutral fat to a synthesis occurring inside the red blood corpuscles. Other explanations, might, however, be suggested as well, namely: (1) The lecithin is synthesized in the intestinal mucose and resorbed into the blood. (2) The synthesis takes place, after the resorption of neutral fat, in the liver, or somewhere else outside the intestinal tract. (3) The increase in the lecithin content of the blood is due to mobilization of preformed lecithin after the resorption of the neutral fat.