Myelin lipids in ischemic stroke.

Slices of ischemic focus (infarct area) and of the contralateral frontal lobe were submitted to histological and biochemical studies. The obtained results indicate that in stroke cases the necrotic focus as well as contralateral brain hemisphere are characterized by a marked decrease of cholesterol and cerebrosides content and an increase of lysophosphatidylcholine and cholesterol esters in the myelin fraction. We conclude that ischemia as well as the degenerative aging process are both responsible for the abnormal lipid pattern in the myelin of the white matter in stroke cases. The long lasting hypoxia resulting from cerebral vessel atheromatosis contributes to biochemical changes in the myelin of the apparently healthy white matter of the contralateral hemisphere in brain infarction.