Fatty Acid Composition of Sphingomyelin and Lecithin in Normal Human Serum.

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Abstract
Summary A procedure is described for the isolation and characterization of the fatty acids of lecithin (plus lysolecithin) and sphingomyelin from blood serum. This procedure was employed for analysis of these fatty acids in 10 normal adult humans. The results indicate that serum lecithin is comprised of an approximately equal proportion of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids while sphingomyelin contains a series of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids ranging from 14 to 25 carbon atoms. The major fatty acids of lecithin were 16:0, 18:0, 18:1 and 18:2 while the major sphingomyelin acids were 16:0, 18:0, 22:0, 24:1 and 24:0. There were no apparent age-dependent changes in the fatty acid composition of these lipids (16–56 years). The fatty acids of sphingomyelin appeared to vary in composition from subject to subject more than those of lecithin.