A study to examine any difference in absorption of cod-liver oil when taken fasting compared to during a meal by examining changes in blood lipid levels.

Healthy volunteers (two male and three female in each group) took cod-liver oil supplements in either the fasting (before breakfast) or fed (with lunch) state for 14 days. After a 14-day break the groups treatments were reversed. Blood pressure and pulse were monitored and blood samples analysed for total lipid, total and HDL cholesterol at 2-weekly intervals. One male and one female volunteer acted as controls, having measurements taken but no blood samples. No changes in pulse rate or blood pressure or clotting times were noted, but the ratio of HDL cholesterol to total cholesterol changed in different directions according to time of consumption in those consuming cod-liver oil.

Dietary determinants of plasma cholesterol change in the recruitment phase of the Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial.

We have investigated the relationship of diet to plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels in 6494 hypercholesterolemic (Type IIA) men who were instructed in an isocaloric, 400 mg cholesterol, 0.8 polyunsaturated-to-saturated fat ratio diet in the course of recruitment for the Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial. Single 24-hour dietary recalls, plasma total and high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and total triglyceride determinations were obtained approximately 1 month before and 1 month after dietary instruction. Cross-sectional correlation analysis disclosed no significant association between diet and plasma cholesterol at entry. However, when diet-associated changes were similarly analyzed, weight loss, decreased intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol, and increased intake of polyunsaturated fat were all significantly and independently predictive of falls in plasma cholesterol, mainly in its low density lipoprotein fraction. The multiple correlation coefficient for the resultant four-variable regression model was 0.29. Diet-associated changes in plasma very low density lipoprotein cholesterol were less marked but in the same direction. These dietary changes were also weakly associated with a lowering of plasma high density lipoprotein cholesterol, while weight loss had an opposite effect of similar strength. When one takes into account the variability of dietary recall data, the observed diet-associated changes in plasma cholesterol were compatible with the findings of metabolic ward studies.

Experimental fat embolism: a dynamic assessment of pulmonary fat-handling characteristics.

Injection 125I-glyceryl trioleate (0-5 mg/kg) into the right atrium of anaesthetized greyhounds caused the following changes: sequestration of far in the right side of the heart; 95 per cent removal by the lungs in a single passage through the pulmonary circulation; subsequent release of fat into the systemic circulation; rapid overall turnover of fat trapped in the lungs and slow removal of recirculating fat by other tissues. We believe that if there is release of unemulsified fat into the circulation in traumatic fat embolism these findings are of significance in interpreting the subsequent pulmonary events.