The fatty acid and long-chain base composition of brain gangliosides differs significantly between mammals and cold-blooded vertebrates.
Species differences in brain ganglioside composition warrant caution extrapolating animal data to humans; leaves open evolutionary roles in neural membrane function.
Fatty acid and long‐chain base composition of gangliosides from brains of animals belonging to various vertebrate classes (fishes, amphibia, reptiles, birds and mammals) was studied by gas‐liquid chromatography. Stearic acid was found to be the main fatty acid everywhere. Brain gangliosides of cold‐blooded animals contain lesser amounts of stearic and higher amounts of palmitic and monoenoic acids as compared to those of mammals. Long‐chain bases were separated as trimethylsilyl derivatives. Large amounts (23‐48 per cent) of long chain bases with 20 carbon atoms were found in brain gangliosides of mammals while in those of cold‐blooded animals they constitute 3‐12 per cent of the total. The comparison of the composition of gangliosides with that of cerebrosides and sulphatides indicates, that the fatty acid and long chain base composition of gangliosides from mammalian brain differs from that of other glycosphingolipids, whereas in brains of cold‐blooded animals they are much more similar.
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Аврова et al. (1971) studied this question.
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