Studies on Lipids, Proteins and Lipoproteins in Serum from Newborn Infants

Abstract

Summary With new micromethods it has been possible to determine in 0.6 ml serum the concentration of total and free cholesterol, phospholipids, and total lipids, and to perform electrophoretic separation of the protein fractions as well as of the various lipid fractions. Sera from blood of the umbilical cord and from capillary blood from 50 infants 1–6 days old were analysed. The cholesterol, the total lipids and the phospholipids increased 70–80 per cent during the first few days of life. The marked increase in the lipids in the serum after birth was ascribable above all to the striking increase in the β‐fraction, but also to the lipids in the fraction termed “chylomicrons”. The α 1 ‐fraction showed a moderate but statistically significant increase. During the first few days of life the α‐ and β‐globulins showed a statistically significant increase while the γ‐globulin showed a statistically significant decrease. The albumin fraction did not change significantly.