Difference in form of sialic acid in red blood cell glycolipids of different breeds of dogs.

Hematoside from dog erythrocyte membrane was previously considered to contain a mixture of N-acetyl- and N-glycolyl- neuraminic acids. However, the hematoside preparation used in the previous study was obtained from pooled blood of several dogs, and individual variation in hematoside was not examined. In this work, hematosides of erythrocytes from 31 mongrel dogs and 108 dogs of 23 breeds were examined individually by thin-layer chromatography, and the component sialic acids were analysed by gas-liquid chromatography. Individual dogs had either NAN-hematoside or NGN-hematoside: dogs with N-glycolyl-neuraminic acid also had a trace of N-acetyl-neuraminic acid, but dogs with N-acetyl-neuraminic acid had no detectable N-glycolyl-neuraminic acid. A few mongrel dogs, some Kai dogs, Kishu dogs, Japanese spaniels and most Shiba dogs had NGN-hematoside, whereas all European dogs had NAN-hematoside and no NGN-hematoside. From pedigrees of some families, inheritance of NGN-hematoside was found to be autosomal dominant. NGN-hematoside is possibly one of dog blood group substances. The sialic acid of delipidized ghost protein of dogs with NGN-hematoside was N-glycolyl-neuraminic acid, and that of dogs with NAN-hematoside was N-acetyl-neuraminic acid. The sialic acid of plasma protein was mainly N-acetyl-neuraminic acid in all dogs.