Gas chromatographic determination of the fatty acid pattern of red cell membrane plasmalogens in healthy children.

A gas chromatographic technique for the determination of the fatty acid pattern of the phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidyl ethanolamine (PE) plasmalogen and non-plasmalogen fractions in human red cell membranes has been developed. The coefficient of variation lies between 5 and 10%. The technique has been applied to blood samples of healthy Belgian school children (8--10 year old). PE contains 47% plasmalogen and 53% non-plasmalogen form, whereas PC occurs only in its non-plasmalogen form. The fatty acid pattern of the various fractions and subfractions has been determined.