Plasma and red blood cell phospholipids in chronic liver diseases.

The total phospholipid content and the individual phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine, lysophosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylserine, and sphingomyelin were determined in the plasma and red blood cells of 58 patients with chronic liver disease and 12 control subjects by quantitative extraction and thin-layer chromatography. The total phospholipids were significantly reduced in both the plasma and red blood cells of the patients with liver disease. For the individual phospholipids, plasma sphingomyelin was significantly decreased, in the red blood cells there was an increase in lysophosphatidylcholine and a decrease in phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylserine compared to the control subjects. It is suggested that in chronic liver disease the red blood cell lipid disturbances follow more closely those of the hepatocyte than those in plasma.