[Comparative lecithin-cholesterol-acyltransferase deficiency in the blood of newborn infants. Comparison of the esterifying activity of neonatal and maternal blood].

On the basis of data obtained in studies on the accumulation of cholesterol in erythrocytes of newlorns, the hypothesis is advanced on the deficiency of lecithin-cholesterol-acetyl transferase (LCAT) in the newborn children. A decrease in the rate of the LCAT-reaction was shown in funic blood using the specially developed system "LP-infranatante", the constituents of which were isolated from blood plasma of both newborns and of their mothers by ultracentrifugation at a density 1.21 g/ml and 40.000 rpm. The following factors were considered as possible determinants of the decrease in the rate of cholesterol esterification in blood plasma of newborns: 1) insufficiency in LCAT, 2) alteration in the composition of the substrate lipoproteins (lipoproteins of high density).