CONCENTRATIONS OF CHOLESTEROL, TOTAL FAT AND PHOSPHOLIPID IN SERUM OF NORMAL MAN

Abstract

THE OBJECT of the investigation reported in the present paper was to procure normal material for the determination of total cholesterol, free cholesterol, total fat and phospholipid in human serum. In no previous investigation were all the following demands fulfilled: (1) application of modern analytic methods, insuring complete extraction of the serum lipids; (2) exclusion of individual subjects presenting xanthelasma and familial hypercholesteremia and persons in whose families such conditions were found, and (3) payment of proper attention not only to sex and age but also to constitutional type. Serum lipids occur mainly in the following forms: (1) cholesterol and its esters, (2) "total fatty acids" (chiefly fatty acids, and smaller amounts of neutral fat) and (3) phosphatides (almost exclusively lecithin, small amounts of cephalin and minimal amounts of sphingomyelin). The literature contains numerous reports on investigations on serum cholesterol, whereas only a few publications have been concerned with the