The lipoids of spleen and liver in various types of lipoidosis

THE study of lipoid distribution in derangements of lipoid metabolism may be expected to throw new light on the physiology of lipoid formation, transport and storage, just as the knowledge of carbohydrate metabolism is based to a great extent on the study of diabetes. At least three pathological entities of generalised " lipoid storage " disease or lipoidoses have been distinguished from clinical and pathological evidence and confirmed by chemical investigations: (1) Gaucher's splenomegaly, characterised by large deposits of the cerebroside kerasin in spleen and liver; (2) Niemann-Pick's disease, in which the phosphatide and cholesterol contents of the viscera, the bone-marrow and the brain are increased at the expense of neutral fat; (3) Schuiler-Christian's disease with replacement of bone tissue by cholesterol deposits. The outstanding chemical characteristics of these diseases have been described in case reports in the medical literature.