Abstract
Summary
Daily oral administration of 9 and 12 g of acid PAS to 7 patients in 9 experimental periods of 6 to 19 weeks duration resulted in significant reductions of the average total serum cholesterol concentration in each subject by 15 to 35%. The average fall for the group was 29%. Daily oral administration of 12 g of sodium PAS to 14 patients for 5 to 14 weeks was followed by a significant fall of average total serum cholesterol levels in only 7 patients by 11 to 26%. The average fall for these subjects was 19%. The remaining 7 patients showed no statistically significant variation of serum cholesterol following administration of oral sodium PAS. The absorption and fecal elimination of I-131 triolein was studied during the administration of PAS in a total of 20 experiments. In 6 patients I-131 triolein absorption tests were carried out during control periods and after the reduction of serum cholesterol levels by the administration of PAS. Five patients, in whom oral administration of sodium PAS failed to alter the concentration of serum cholesterol, were subjected to 1–131 triolein absorption tests during control periods and following oral administration of sodium PAS. There was no significant difference between control and PAS periods in the average whole blood radioactivity and in the 7 2-hour fecal elimination of radioactivity in either of the two groups. It was thus concluded that the absorption of dietary triglycerides was not significantly altered by oral administration of the drug. The possible mechanisms by which administration of PAS lowered the concentration of serum cholesterol were discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.