Abstract
THE importance of obtaining more precise information regarding the sterol excretion pattern in human beings has recently become apparent and has been emphasized by Aylward1. The normal clinical laboratory techniques for stools, namely extraction of dried material or wet extraction coupled with saponification make impossible the isolation of any sterol esters which may be present. This difficulty in isolating (as distinct from estimating) sterol esters was indeed common to all lipid extracts until the methods developed by Börgstrom2, and others, were applied by Fillerup and Mead3 to extracts from animal tissues. Using silicic acid, they were able for the first time to separate cholesterol esters from triglycerides. We have applied a modification of this technique to the lipids of human fæces and have been able to isolate cholesterol ester fractions; and, using gas-liquid chromatography, have examined the fatty acids present in the esters.
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References
Aylward, F., Lancet, ii, 852 (1958).
Börgstrom, B., Acta Physiol. Scand., 25, 101 (1952).
Fillerup, D., and Mead, J., Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 83, 574 (1953).
Hartman, L., Shorland, F. B., and Cleveley, B., Biochem. J., 69, 1 (1958).
Barron, E. J., and Hanahan, D. J., J. Biol. Chem., 231, 493 (1958).
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AYLWARD, F., WILLS, P. Isolation of Sterol Esters from Human Fæces. Nature 191, 1397 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/1911397a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1911397a0
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