Studies in Globoid (Krabbe) Leukodystrophy (GLD)

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Abstract
GLYCOLIPIDS are reduced in the brain in globoid leukodystrophy (GLD), and a distinctive change occurs in their proportions.1,2Typically, there is an increase in the ratio of cerebrosides to sulfatides in isolated globoid bodies,3in one partially purified "myelin fraction"4and in cerebral cortex.5The increase in cerebrosides is of particular interest because cerebrosides elicit a local globoid-like response when injected into experimental animals.6,7The decrease in sulfatides is also notable because in two GLD cases there was abnormally low activity of the enzyme system that synthesizes sulfatides.8,9 The purpose of the present collaborative report is to consider several enzymic mechanisms which could cause the relative increase in cerebrosides and the decrease of sulfatides. Our present findings emphasize and further confirm the recent finding of a β-galactosidase deficiency in both human10,11and canine GLD.12Recent reviews of GLD are presented elsewhere.

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