Transient thrombopenia after intravenous injection of certain fatty acids

Intravenous injections of various fatty acids in rabbits caused marked thrombopenia lasting 1–2 hr. The most active saturated fatty acids were myristic acid (14:0) and lauric acid (12:0). Activity decreased with increasing and decreasing chain length, but behenic acid (22:0) had, on a molar basis, activity similar to that of lauric acid. Of the unsaturated fatty acids, oleic acid (18:1) was active only at high doses, whereas linoleic (18:2) and linolenic acid (18:3) had an effect comparable to palmitic acid (16:0). Intraperitoneal administration of the fatty acids caused no thrombopenia. The thrombo-penic effect of the fatty acids was greatly reduced if the solutions were mixed with serum before injection.