Effects of Intravenous Administration of Fat Emulsion on Formed Blood Elements and Body Temperature in Dogs

¹ From the Departments of Physiology and Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee

Intravenous administration of a 10% olive oil emulsion or lymph to healthy dogs anesthetized with Nembutal produced marked thrombocytopenia, leucopenia, neutropenia, eosinopenia, lymphopenia, increase in mechanical fragility of erythrocytes, and increase in hematocrit. The increase in mechanical fragility of erythrocytes correlated directly with the degree of lipemia. Heparin administration accelerated the removal of the injected fat from the circulation and hastened the return to normal of the formed blood elements. The changes in the formed blood elements were more marked and persisted longer in the dogs receiving piromen. The changes in the formed blood elements following oral ingestion of olive oil were either mild or insignificant except for the moderate eosinophilia. Elevation of rectal temperature and persistent lymphopenia were observed only in the animals receiving emulsion and piromen. It is concluded that the changes in formed blood elements, including the increase in mechanical fragility of erythrocytes following intravenous administration of fat emulsion, did not seem to correlate with the rise of body temperature.