The food value of intarvin.

Abstract

In order to ascertain whether the synthetic fat, intarvin, composed of 17 carbon atom fatty acids, could be used by the body as a food, observations were made on two diabetic patients and four normal individuals. This was done in conjunction with work on dogs reported in another communication. 1 It is the purpose of this paper to present the data obtained from feeding experiments on two of the normal individuals. The other two normals were unable to eat enough intarvin to yield results sufficiently conclusive for interpretation.

Discussion.

The diabetic patients were upon restricted diets for therapeutic reasons. These diets were insufficient in calories to maintain nitrogen equilibrium and weight. They were receiving insulin. Additions of 80 and 100 grams of intarvin showed no increase in ketone bodies and was followed by a lowering in nitrogen excretion. The period during which intarvin was given was for one patient five days, for the other ten days. The results are not decisive enough to make it worth while presenting the protocols. Difficulty was experienced in getting the patients to take the intarvin and it had to be discontinued.

The normal subjects were placed upon a diet the total caloric value of which was designed to maintain nitrogen equilibrium. After a preliminary period of two days the carbohydrate and fat were shifted isodynamically to produce ketosis. This occurred together with an increase in nitrogen excretion. Upon the fourth day of this high fat-low carbohydrate diet intarvin was substituted for the bulk of the food fat. From the data of these tables we may conclude that the use of intarvin resulted in :

1. Protein sparing action.

2. Decrease in ketosis.

3. A lowering of the respiratory quotient suggesting that a fat was being burned.