Correlation between percentage of palmitic acid in adipose tissue and serum cholesterol level in patients with multiple sclerosis.

To investigate mechanisms controlling the concentration of serum cholesterol we studied its relationship to the proportions of fatty acids in the lipids of adipose tissue of patients with multiple sclerosis. In 26 men the serum cholesterol concentration had a significant multiple linear regression on the proportion of palmitic, palmitoleic, and grouped longer-chain acids in adipose tissues. In 29 women the serum cholesterol had a significant regression on the proportion of palmitic acid and age. Whether these observations would hold for normal people must be determined in future studies.