THE CHOLESTEROL AND CHOLESTEROL-ESTER CONTENT OF THE BLOOD IN XANTHOMA TUBEROSUM MULTIPLEX

I. INTRODUCTION  In recent years considerable interest has been shown regarding the rôle that cholesterol and its esters play in the body. Cholesterol was first noted by Conradi in 1775 and by Gren in 1788, to be present in gall-stones, and they called this substance "gall-stone fat." Fourcroy subsequently classified it along with spermaceti and adipocere. Chevreul, in 1815, demonstrated certain differential qualities of this substance and called it cholesterin.This substance, now preferably called cholesterol (C₂₇H₄₄O, H₂O), is a mono-hydroxy terpeno-alcohol and forms esters with fatty acids in the same manner as does the tri-hydroxy alcohol glycerol. The esters of cholesterol with oleic and palmitic acids exist preformed in animal tissues, while that with stearic acid has not been identified positively in organisms. Bondet, in 1883, found cholesterol-oleate in the blood-serum and called it "seroline," but Hürthle, in 1895, was the