Erucic acid as the factor in rape oil affecting adrenal cholesterol in the rat.

In a previous communication it was reported that feeding rape oil to rats for a month as 25 per cent by weight of their diet caused a 3to 4-fold increase in the amount of cholesterol in their adrenals (1). A similar effect has been obtained by feeding large amounts of turnip seed oil, nasturtium seed oil, or a weed seed oil obtained chiefly from species of Brassica. Other fats and oils have generally produced a definite, but much smaller, increase in adrenal cholesterol. The oils which cause the greatest increases in adrenal cholesterol in the rat are characterized by their high content of erucic acid, and experiments described in the present paper on the fractionation of rape oil indicate that erucic acid is chiefly responsible for its effect on adrenal cholesterol. In a further series of experiments, a number of individual fatty acids or their esters have been fed to rats and observations made on changes in adrenal cholesterol.