Lipidomic Analysis of Postmortem Prefrontal Cortex Phospholipids Reveals Changes in  Choline Plasmalogen Containing Docosahexaenoic Acid and Stearic Acid Between Cases With and Without Alzheimer’s Disease

In this study, we used a comprehensive mass-spectrometry method to quantify diacyl and plasmalogen species, alkyl synthetic precursors of plasmalogens, a nd lysophospholipid degradation products of diacyl and plasmalogen PLs, in postmortem samples of prefrontal cortex from 21 AD patients and 20 age-matched controls. Total PLs were also quantified with gas-chromatography analysis of bound fatty acids following thin layer chromatography isolation. Ther e was a significant 27% reduction in the concentration (nmol/g wet weight) of choline plasmalogen containing stearic acid (alkenyl group) and docosahexaenoic acid in AD compared to controls. Stearic acid concentration in total PLs was reduced by 26%. Our findings suggest specific changes in PLs cont aining stearic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in AD prefrontal cortex, highlighting structural and turnover PL pathways that could be targeted.

Source: NeuroMolecular Medicine - January 21, 2021 Category: Neurology Source Type: research