The purpose of this study was to assess the amount of sodium in the diet of normal adults. The population consisted of 86 adults, 49 females and 37 males, who were participants in the Family Heart Study (FHS). Of this population 26 were studied during the baseline assessment period and were just entering the program. The remaining 60 people were studied after participating in the FHS for one year. Three methods were used to assess sodium intake: a salt questionnaire, a salt preference test and the sodium content of a 24-hour urine collection. The salt questionnaire consisted of questions to assess the frequency of intake of high sodium foods and the use of salt at the table and in cooking. The salt preference test was done using a baked potato salted to taste by the participants. The salt questionnaire and salt preference test were compared to the amount of sodium in a 24-hour urine collection. There was no relationship among any of these measures of salt intake. The urinary analysis for sodium indicated that the participants in this study had a moderately high sodium intake (143 mEq/day), similar to other studies in the U.S. Males excreted more sodium than females. The group assessed at baseline and the group assessed after one year in the study both excreted the same amount of sodium. The year one group had switched to Lite salt and reduced their use of salt during cooking; however, they used salty foods with the same frequency as the baseline group. The urinalysis demonstrates that the changes made by the year one group were not significant in reducing their salt intake. The amount of sodium excreted showed no relationship to blood pressure. This finding is similar to other studies in the U.S. because most people consume over 70 mEq sodium/day, which is above the proposed threshold to prevent hypertension. The genetic variability in the U.S. population obscures any relationship of sodium intake to blood pressure. Some of the major problems in assessing sodium intake are the variability from day to day and the ubiquity of sodium in our foods. It was concluded that urinary assessment of sodium was the best method available at this time, although multiple collections are necessary to compensate for the variability of sodium intake. / Graduation date: 1981

Although there is information available on the distribution of phospholipids in human serum and red cells, very limited data have been reported for white cells and platelets. To the knowledge of the author, no data have been reported on the distribution of phospholipids among the four blood fractions, of individual subjects. Due to the limited amounts of white cells and platelets present in blood, micromethods are essential for the analyses of these fractions in individual subjects. Although phospholipids have been separated from larger samples by others, their methods were not appropriate for micro amounts. Therefore, procedures were developed in this study which made it possible to isolate and to quantitate the individual components of samples of total phospholipid ranging from 20 to 40 μg. The distributions of phospholipids were determined in serum, red cells, white cells and platelets isolated from the venous blood of four men and four women. The blood fractions were isolated and lipid was extracted by methods previously developed in this laboratory. Total phospholipids were isolated by preparative thin-layer chromatography. Individual phospholipid components were separated and quantitated by the micromethod developed in this investigation. Components were eluted from microchromatoplates and quantitated by analysis of their phosphorus content. This method effectively separated phospholipid samples into lysophosphatidylcholine (LPhC), sphingomyelin (Sph), phosphatidylcholine + phosphatidylserine (PhC + PhS) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PhE). Although all of the fractions contained higher proportional amounts of PhC + PhS than any other component, there were characteristic distributions in each of the blood fractions. Serum was characterized by high PhC + PhS and virtually no PhE. Red cells contained lower amounts of PhC + PhS and more Sph and PhE than any other blood fraction. The distributions of phospholipids in white cells and platelets were similar and resembled the general pattern found in red cells more than that of serum. The marked differences in the distribution of phospholipids among the blood fractions emphasize the importance of concurrent analyses of all blood fractions in studies of human phospholipid metabolism. / Graduation date: 1966

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