title: Human peripheral lymph lipoproteins are enriched in sphingomyelin.
abstract: The concentrations of total choline-containing phospholipids and of sphingomyelin have been determined in peripheral lymph from six volunteers. The concentration in lymph of total phospholipids was 14.6 +/- 6.0 mg/dl and of sphingomyelin 6.1 +/- 2.7 mg/dl; the estimated concentration of phosphatidylcholine (by subtracting the concentration of sphingomyelin from that of total choline-containing lipoproteins) was 8.5 +/- 5.1 mg/dl. The concentration of free choline in lymph was less than 1 mg/dl. The ratio of the concentration in lymph to that in the subject's own plasma of sphingomyelin was 0.18 +/- 0.07 and that of (estimated) phosphatidylcholine 0.05 + 0.04; the difference between these two ratios was significant at P less than 0.002. The present data are compatible with the hypothesis that some of lipoprotein phosphatidylcholine is lost while crossing from plasma to lymph.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reichl
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sterchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000032:analysis*; D008196:Lymph / Q000737:chemistry*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000032:analysis; D013109:Sphingomyelins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D008074:Lipoproteins; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D010743:Phospholipids; D013109:Sphingomyelins; D002784:Cholesterol