The proportions of different lecithins in the livers of rats deficient in essential fatty acids.

1. Lecithin was prepared from the livers of rats deficient in essential fatty acids and analysed by means of countercurrent distribution. Thin-layer chromatography showed that only lecithin was present. 2. The distributions of phosphorus and the fatty acids at the 3 and 2 positions were determined. 3. It has been shown that 26% of the fatty acids in the 3 position were unsaturated and that most of the Delta(5,8,11)-eicosatrienoic acid and the arachidonic acids occur as the stearoyl or oleoyl lecithins.