THE COMPOSITION OF LIPIDS IN CEREBROSPINAL FLUID OF CHILDREN AND ADULTS

Abstract
Abstract— The proportions of esterified cholesterol and phosphatidyl ethanolamine in lipids of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from children were found to be lower than the corresponcling values for adult CSF. The fatty acid patterns of the cholesterol ester, triglyceride + non‐esterified fatty acids and phospholipid fractions all displayed low proportions of linoleate; palmitate and oleate were the principal acids present. The fatty acid composition of these lipid classes for CSF derived from children was similar to that from adult subjects. Degradation of CSF lecithin by snake‐venom phospholipase A2 revealed the saturated acids to be located predominantly in the 1‐position with the unsaturated ones mainly in the 2‐position.