A method for determination of saturated phosphatidylcholine.

Phosphatidylcholine preparations containing saturated and unsaturated molecular species were subjected to KMnO(4)-NaIO(4) oxidation in aqueous acetic acid, which left only disaturated species intact. After the oxidation, the remaining intact phosphatidylcholine was separated by thin-layer chromatography. The procedure could be used as a simple and rapid method for microdetermination of the saturated species in phosphatidylcholine preparations containing more than 0.1 micro mole of the saturated species. The contents of the saturated species in native phosphatidylcholines obtained from rat lung tissue and washings by this procedure were 35.7% and 58.3%, respectively.