[Reliability of the lipid emulsion test for reticuloendothelial system]

The reticuloendothelial system is important as one of the self defense mechanisms. We performed two investigations to confirm the reliability of the lipid emulsion test for determining the reticuloendothelial system function. 1) The lipid emulsion serum clearance was contrasted with the counts of lipid emulsions phagocytosed by Kupffer cells in liver. 2) Lipid emulsion clearance was contrasted with the hepatic uptake rate of 99mTc-phytate. The result demonstrated a positive correlation among lipid emulsion clearance, the counts of lipid emulsions phagocytosed by Kupffer cells and the hepatic uptake rate of 99mTc-phytate. These results confirm that the lipid emulsion test is sufficient to reflect Reticuloendothelial system function.