Abstract
In a previous communication 1 it has been shown that when vegetable oils are activated by means of ultra-violet irradiation, the antirachitic factor is confined to the non-saponifiable fraction. Further investigation has demonstrated that phytosterol obtained from these oils, although unable to protect against rickets, can in the same way be endowed with antirachitic potency. In these tests the phytosterol was suspended in water, and 0.25 cc. of a 1 percent suspension was fed daily to each rat. Similar experiments were carried out with cholesterol, of which 0.25 cc. or 0.1 cc. was fed. It was found that cholesterol was also able to prevent rickets following irradiation when fed to rats receiving the low phosphorus rickets-producing diet. Spectrograms showed that following irradiation the cholesterol was altered so as to transmit a greater intensity and a wider range of the shorter ultra-violet radiations. Lanolin which had been irradiated with the mercury vapor lamp to the same degree—for one-half hour at a distance of one foot—was found to have acquired much less antirachitic potency.
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