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The fatty acid composition of human gliomas differs from that found in nonmalignant brain tissue
Author(s) -
Martin Douglas D.,
Robbins Michael E. C.,
Spector Arthur A.,
Wen B.Chen,
Hussey David H.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
lipids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.601
H-Index - 120
eISSN - 1558-9307
pISSN - 0024-4201
DOI - 10.1007/bf02587914
Subject(s) - glioma , phosphatidylethanolamine , phospholipid , polyunsaturated fatty acid , phosphatidylserine , docosahexaenoic acid , linoleic acid , fatty acid , biochemistry , lipidology , chemistry , clinical chemistry , composition (language) , human brain , phosphatidylcholine , biology , chromatography , cancer research , linguistics , philosophy , neuroscience , membrane
To compare the fatty acid composition of tumor tissue from glioma patients with that of normal brain tissue, tissue samples were obtained from 13 glioma patients and from 3 nonmalignant patients. Following lipid extraction, total fatty acid composition was measured using gas‐liquid chromatography. Samples were further separated into phospholipids and neutral lipids. Representative samples were then separated into phospholipid classes by thin‐layer chromatography and the fatty acid composition assayed. Levels of the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), were significantly reduced ( P =0.029) in the glioma samples compared with normal brain samples; mean values were 4.8±2.9% and 9.2±1.0%, respectively. This reduction in glioma DHA content was also observed in terms of phospholipids (4.6±2.1% vs. 9.6±0.8%, P =0.002). The phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine phospholipid classes were reduced in the glioma samples. Differences were also noted in the n‐6 PUFA content between glioma and normal brain samples. The glioma content of the n‐6 PUFA linoleic acid was significantly greater ( P <0.05) than that observed in the control samples in terms of total lipids. Thus, the fatty acid composition of human gliomas differs from that found in nonmalignant brain tissue.