Abstract
Phospholipid class composition was determined on the aorta from normal rabbits and those with experimental atherosclerosis, fed high-cholesterol diet, by means of quantitative thin-layer chromatography with Silica gel G plate. Relative increase in the phosphatidyl choline and relative decrease in phosphatidyl ethanolamine percentage of the total phospholipids were noted on the atherosclerotic aorta in comparison with the normal aorta. Though no change in the percentage of sphingomyelin was observed in the atheromatous aorta, a significant change in the fatty acid composition of this phospholipid was revealed by gas-liquid chromatographic determination of the fatty acids liberated from the purified sphingomyelin preparation, characterized by remarkably high percentage of C16 acids and lower percentage of the acids with 20 or more carbon atoms in comparison with the values on the normal aorta. With the blood plasma of atherosclerotic animals, only a decrease in phosphatidyl ethanolamine, which is not the major component of plasma phospholipids, was detected, with the other phospholipid class composition almost unchanged.
