Changes in content and composition of brain phospholipids in malnourished children.

The content and composition of phospholipids were studied in the brain of children who died from severe malnutrition within the first 2 years of life, and compared with those obtained from well-nourished children who died of accidents, or of illnesses not known to affect the central nervous system. Each brain was separated into the constituent major parts--the forebrain, brain stem, and the cerebellum. With the exception of a few marasmic children under 1 year of age whose forebrain and cerebellum had higher phospholipid concentration than normal, the concentration of the lipids on dry weight basis in all brain regions of the malnourished children was the same, regardless of age, as that in the children who were normal nutritionally. However, the phospholipid:DNA ratio in the forebrain and the cerebellum of most of the malnourished children under 1 year of age was higher than normal. The brain stem of only a few malnourished children aged around 1 year also had higher phospholipid:DNA ratio than normal. Among the different phospholipids, sphingomyelin was found to be selectively decreased in each brain part of the malnourished children aged 1 year or more.