Alterations of serum phospholipids in patients with multiple sclerosis.

The total phospholipids in serum and the percentages of major phospholipid classes of phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanol-amine (PE) and sphingomyelin (SM) were studied based on 21 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 18 healthy subjects. Serum samples were extracted with isopropanol, then major phospholipid classes were separated by thin-layer chromatography, finally, the samples were quantitated by CS-910 densitometer. Though the results were insignificantly different in the concentration of total phospholipid between the MS patients and the controls, there was partial reduction of the concentrations of PS and PE (P < 0.01), moreover, the percentages of PS and PE were relatively lower, correspondingly, the percentage of PC was higher as compared with control group. The results suggest that there should exist an abnormality in the metabolism of phospholipids in patients with MS in the sense of the alterations of phospholipid compositions in serum samples.