Serum cholesterol linoleate levels in multiple sclerosis

The percentage composition of the free and esteri-fied fatty acids in the total lipid extracts of samples of serum taken from 47 patients with multiple sclerosis and from 38 control subjects has recently been de-scribed (Baker, Thompson, and Zilkha, 1964). It was found that the percentage of linoleic acid was significantly reduced in the multiple sclerosis group taken as a whole. Furthermore, when the patients were graded according to the activity of the disease, the percentage of linoleic acid was found to fall progressively with increasing evidence of recent deterioration in the patients ' condition; the mean percentage of linoleic acid in the patients placed in the grade showing the greatest deterioration was 186 Y, compared with 256 Y % in the control group. Since it is known that the cholesterol ester fraction of the serum lipids contains a much higher propor-tion of linoleic acid than either the phospholipid or