Ii. Feeding of Fp.actmns of Oxidized Cod Liver Oil

With the demonstration that the generalized Shwartzman reaction could be produced in pregnant rats by simply adding an oxidized lipid to an otherwise ordinary diet (1, 2), at tention is naturally directed to the material in the oxidized lipid tha t m ay be responsible for this unique pathologic change. Stamler's observations that the preliminary diet is low in tocopherol, and that supplements of tocopherol prevent the reaction, all focus attention on the possibility that the disease is mediated by a tocopherol deficiency. On the other hand, it has been observed (3) tha t oxidized oils are themselves capable of damaging the organism and the reaction of such oils might be an alternative explanation for the development of the disease in the pregnant rats. Regardless of the possible role of tocopherol, the identification of the agent in the oxidized oil is of great importance. I n the present s tudy a series of fractions of oxidized cod liver oil, obtained by molecular distillation, were fed to pregnant rats in an a t tempt to correlate observed induction of the generalized Shwartzman reaction with certain aspects of the chemical structure of the dietary lipid.