Correction published

We just published a correction to our study on the physiology of late-gestation fetuses exposed to high lipid levels. After the original publication, we realized the Oil Red O staining had been done incorrectly — so we went back and redid the work.

It turns out, the story is even more interesting than we thought.

We confirmed that lipids accumulate in the liver of fetuses given a week of intravenous Intralipid — but we also discovered significant lipid buildup in the heart and lungs. These findings deepen our understanding of how excess circulating lipids affect fetal development in the final weeks before birth.

Find this correction at Clinical Science and PubMed.

Figure. Oil Red O staining in fetal tissues Accumulated neutral lipids and lipid droplets were stained with Oil Red O in fetal liver, lung, heart, and placental tissues. Raw and median values are shown. Number for control females = 7 (except LV = 6), males = 4 (except LV = 3); Intralipid females = 4 (except liver and LV = 3), males =7 (except liver = 6, LV = 5). Treatment effect was visually assessed by sex prior to analysis by Mann–Whitney test.