Gangliosides of CSF and Plasma: Their Relation to the Nervous System

Abstract

The lipid composition of body fluids has become a subject of growing interest in the field of sphingolipidoses and related disorders ever since the recognition that lipid abnormalities which characterize these diseases are often manifested in one or more such fluids. CSF¹ has special significance in relation to neurological disorders and some evidence suggests that lipid alterations in this fluid may be correlated with certain categories of disease. Thus, on the basis of one survey Christensen and Matzke (1965) suggested that the ratio of cerebroside to lecithin provides an index of white matter destruction. A detailed study of CSF lipids in multiple sclerosis patients by Tourtel lotte and Haerer (1969) revealed several lipids to be elevated above normal with cerebrosides showing the most characteristic increase. Hagberg and Svennerholm (1960) detected sulfatides in the CSF of patients with late infantile metachromatic leucodystrophy but did not quantify or compare them with normal levels.