Cholesterol and hyperbaric oxygen in swimbladders of deep sea fishes

Abstract

WE have found an accumulation of cholesterol within the oxygen-filled swimbladders of some deep sea benthic fishes, which suggests that certain steps in cholesterol biosynthesis and/or degradation are affected by hyperbaric oxygen. The lipid content of these swimbladders included as much as 49 % (dry wt basis) of cholesterol. The lipid included major amounts of unsaturated fatty acids which resist auto-oxidative processes within the swimbladder which contains oxygen at pressures up to 380 atmospheres. © 1971 Nature Publishing Group.