Abstract
There have been a number of attempts to separate an antirachitically potent fraction from cholesterol irradiated in air. Hess, Weinstock and Sherman, 1 and Rosenheim and Webster 2 tried without success. The latter authors claim to have isolated an active fraction from cholesterol irradiated in nitrogen, but their experimental data do not seem to warrant such a claim. Nitzescu and Popoviciu 3 reported the separation of irradiated cholesterol (presumably irradiated in air) into an active and an inactive fraction.
The preceding paper 4 is a report of the separation of a yellow oil formed from cholesterol as a result of irradiation in air. The antirachitic potency of this “U. V. oil of cholesterol” was tested by means of curative experiments on rachitic rats, in which the material tested was incorporated in the diet. At the May, 1926, meeting of the American Pediatric Society, one of us, in discussing a paper by Schlutz and Ziegler, reported 5 that this material cures rickets in rats. During this same discussion, Julius H. Hess 6 stated that Koch had obtained an active extract from irradiated cholesterol.
The present communication is a brief report of the results so far obtained. The new points brought out by this investigation, in which more than 100 rats were used, are as follows:
1. Crude “U. V. oil of cholesterol” cures experimentally produced rickets in rats.
2. Cholesterol-free “U. V. oil of cholesterol” cures experimentally produced rickets in rats.
3. The antirachitic effect of the U. V. oil is not due to material extracted by ether from the reagent employed for the removal of the cholesterol.
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