Use
Cottonseed oil emulsions have in the past been used in long-term intravenous nutrition regimens. A complex of adverse reactions,called the overloading syndromehas been seen with chronic administration of cottonseed oil emulsion. This consisted of anorexia,nausea,abdominal pain,headache,fever,and sorethroat. Signs of impaired liver function, anemia, hepatosplenomegaly, thrombocytopenia, and spontaneous hemorrhage due to delayed blood clotting have been reported. For parenteral nutrition purposes, cottonseed oil has been replaced by soybean oil,especially in pregnant women, where the use of cottonseed lipid emulsion has been associated with adverse effects.
A notable difference between the cottonseed oil emulsion and the soybean oil emulsion is the particle size.The cottonseed oil emulsion has much larger particles than the soybean oil emulsion. These larger particles may have been handled differently by the body, thus perhaps accounting for some of the toxic reactions.