Abstract
Summary
1. Mature rats were maintained on a fat free diet for relatively long periods without showing any deficiency symptoms except emaciation.
2. Severe depletion followed by ad libitum feeding of the fat free diet precipitated in mature rats symptoms including those typical of essential fatty acid deficiency.
3. This method is suggested for other types of experiments where a “strain” on body functions is desired.
4. Either ethyl linoleate or corn oil prevented entirely or cured rapidly the symptoms of essential fatty acid deficiency when they appeared.
5. When the rats, after depletion, were maintained on the fat free diet ad libitum for sufficiently long periods, spontaneous disappearance of all the symptoms was observed, for which the explanation of some synthesis of essential fatty acid is suggested.
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