QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Barnes, R. H. Articles by Fiala, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Barnes, R. H. Articles by Fiala, G.

Effects of the Prevention of Coprophagy in the Rat

V. Essential Fatty Acid Deficiency¹

Graduate School of Nutrition, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

Essential fatty acid deficiency in the rat is hastened by complete prevention of coprophagy. This observation does not imply that these fatty acids are synthesized in the large intestine, but does show that the unsaturated fatty acids of the feces are, in part at least, of an essential nature.

The serum cholesterol of the essential fatty acid-deficient rat is lower than is obtained by merely feeding a fat-free diet without the development of the deficiency syndrome. Furthermore, it appears that the level of serum cholesterol in the deficient rat may not respond to dietary changes such as the inclusion of saturated fat in the same manner that is observed in the non-deficient animal. Accumulation of liver cholesterol in the non-deficient as well as the deficient rat receiving a fat-free diet has been confirmed.

Manuscript received 25 October 1958.