Different oligosaccharides accumulate in the brain and urine of a cat with alpha-mannosidosis: structure determination of five brain-derived and seventeen urinary oligosaccharides.

Five brain-derived and 17 urinary oligomannose-type oligosaccharides were isolated by ion-exchange chromatography on Mono Q or Dowex, followed by HPLC on Lichrosorb-NH2 from a Persian cat suffering from alpha-mannosidosis. The structures of the carbohydrate chains were determined by 500- or 600-MHz 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Different oligosaccharide patterns were found in brain and urine. 99% of the urinary oligosaccharides possess an alpha(1-6)-linked mannose residue attached to beta-mannose, whereas only 5% of the brain-derived oligosaccharides contain such a residue. Furthermore, of the urinary carbohydrate chains 71% end with Man beta 1-4GlcNAc beta 1-4GlcNAc and 29% end with Man beta 1-4GlcNAc, whereas the corresponding amounts are 23% and 77%, respectively, for the brain-derived oligosaccharides.