A comparative study of three methods for the estimation of total plasmalogens in lingual taste epithelium and other tissues.

The total plasmalogen content of lingual and other tissues was analyzed using the iodine-addition (Method 1), the p-nitrophenylhydrazone (Method 2), and the two-dimensional thin layer chromatography procedure (Method 3). Methods 1 and 2 were simple, rapid and reproducible, yielding values usually in close agreement with each other, and values higher than those of Method 3. Method 3 exhibited poor reproducibility. All three methods were of comparable sensitivity (less than 20 nmol of total plasmalogen per sample). According to Methods 1 and 2, there was more total plasmalogen in lingual epithelium containing taste buds compared with lingual epithelium devoid of taste buds. Plasmalogen content of bovine and rat brain, heart and liver agreed with literature values.