[Chemically prepared fats and Crohn disease. A pilot study of the occurrence of trans-fatty acids in the subcutaneous tissue of Crohn patients in comparison with healthy controls as a parameter of long-term fat intake]. / Chemisch aufbereitetes Fett und Morbus Crohn. Eine Pilotstudie zum Vorkommen von trans-Fettsäuren im Unterhautfettgewebe von Crohn-Patienten im Vergleich mit gesunden Kontrollen als Parameter des Langzeit-Fettverzehrs.

In a pilot study the fatty acid pattern of subcutaneous adipose tissue from 22 patients with Crohn's disease and 22 subjects of a healthy control group was analyzed using glass capillary gas-liquid chromatography. Among all fatty acids amounting to at least 1% peak area of the chromatograms, only trans-octadecenoate differed significantly (p less than 0.05) between both study groups, the mean value being 2.39 +/- 0.83% in patients with Crohn's disease and 1.96 +/- 0.46% in healthy controls. Also the mean value of trans-hexadecenoate was significantly (p less than 0.05) higher in the Crohn group (0.25 +/- 0.07%) than in the control group (0.21 +/- 0.06%). There was a strongly positive linear correlation (p less than 0.001) between the trans-hexadecenoate and trans-octadecenoate values for the Crohn patients but not for the controls. Our results demonstrate that patients with Crohn's disease as a group consume more trans-monoene fatty acids than healthy controls, thus providing evidence for a higher intake of chemically processed fats like margarine, shortenings, frying and cooking fats. In further studies which are necessary to examine Guthy's hypothesis the fatty acid composition of adipose tissue should be followed up as an ideal marker of long-term dietary compliance.

Paraffin oil pneumonia. Analysis of saturated hydrocarbons in different human tissue.

Temperature-programmed gas chromatographic analysis on columns packed with Apiezon L as stationary phase is shown to be the best method for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of simple and complex hydrocarbon mixtures when compared with all the other applicable techniques (thin-layer chromatography, column chromatography, ultraviolet spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectrometry) described in this paper. Using the method in a patient with mineral oil pneumonia it could be demonstrated that he expectorated a maximum of 79.5 mg liquid paraffin daily and also transported equally complex saturated hydrocarbons in a concentration of 1.3 mg% in plasma and of 1.6 mg% in the cellular blood components. In an additional experiment the direct determination of liquid paraffin resorbed from the gastrointestinal tract was possible in a patient with a left chyle fistula in the neck. After a dose of 50 g liquid paraffin administered as a laxative, 246 ml chyle was collected within the following 14 h which yielded a total of 4.5 mg liquid paraffin. Its composition was identical with the administered laxative. Assuming a daily lymph volume of 1.51, the resorbed amount would correspond to a resorption rate of 0.5 (see article) liquid paraffin. The importance of these results as well as the diagnostic consequences arising from the described analytical technique are discussed in detail.

Trans-isomeric fatty acids present in West German margarines, shortenings, frying and cooking fats.

Fatty acid patterns were determined in 83 brands of margarine, 9 brands of low-calorie margarine and 18 brands of shortening, frying and cooking fat purchased at random from the retail marker in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1973/1974, and a second time in 1976. As a result of gas-liquid chromatographic analyses on a Silar 10 C coated packed column, complemented in some cases by the values recorded on a highly selective SP 2340 capillary column, trans-octadecenoic acids ranging from 53.2 to 0.1% were measured. None of the products examined was completely free of trans-fatty acids. High values of trans-octadecenoate were always accompanied by positional isomers of cis-octadecenoate, by 9trans,12trans-octadecadienoate and by 9cis,12trans-octadecadienoate and 9trans,12cis-octadecadienoate. Furthermore, two mixed geometric isomers derived from linolenic acid (probably 9cis,12cis,15trans-octadecatrienoate and 9trans,12cis,15cis-octadecatrienoate) could be identified, provided that the individual brand contained sufficient linolenic acid. Following partial hydrogenation, transhexadecenoate, 0.1 to 0.2%, was detected in some of the edible fats.

Occurrence of individual trans-isomeric fatty acids in human myocardium, jejunum and aorta in relation to different degrees of atherosclerosis.

With the aid of a highly selective capillary column coated with SP 2340, individual trans-fatty acids were identified in all tissue samples studied, the values being unrelated to the degree of atherosclerosis. The mean values of total trans-acids present in human myocardium, jejunum and aorta amounted to less than 1% of the total fatty acids. The trans-acid content was composed of traces of 9-trans-tetradecenoic acid and nearly equal amounts of 9-trans-hexadecenoate and trans-octadecenoate, the double bond in the latter occurring in the delta6, delta9 and delta11 positions. 9-trans,12-trans-octadecadienoate or the corresponding mixed geometric isomers could not be identified in any sample. Additionally, significant increases of 20:4c(n-6), 22:4c(n-6) and 22:6c(n-3) acids were measured in the myocardium of patients who had died from severe atherosclerosis of the aorta and coronary arteries. The atherosclerosis was not attributable to different dietary habits, as judged from the content of linoleic acid in their adipose tissue.