Effects of Hyper- and Hypothyroidism on Hepatic Lymph Cholesterol in Rats

¹ From the Harold Brunn Institute, Mount Zion Hospital, San Francisco, California

Hepatic lymph was obtained from normal, and hyper- and hypothyroid rats and analyzed for its content of cholesterol and total lipid. The hyperthyroid rat exhibited an increased volume flow of hepatic lymph with normal lymph cholesterol concentration, and the hypothyroid rat a normal volume flow of lymph but with an increased concentration of lymph cholesterol. The data indicate that the rise of plasma cholesterol occurring in the hypothyroid state cannot be ascribed to any decrease in its ability to diffuse passively out of the plasma.