Lipid composition of tracheobronchial secretions from normal individuals and patients with cystic fibrosis.

The lipid composition of tracheobronchial secretions from normal individuals and patients with cystic fibrosis was investigated. Lipids were extracted from he dialyzed and lyophilized samples, and fractionated on silicic acid columns into neutral lipids, glycolipids and phospholipids. The lipids contained each fraction were separated into individual components by thin-layer chromatography and quantified. The secretions of patients with cystic fibrosis and were found to contain about 30% more lipids than that of normal individuals and exhibited elevated levels of cholesterol, phospholipids and glycosphingolipids. The level of free fatty acids and glyceroglucolipids was higher in the normal secretions. The phospholipids of cystic fibrosis secretions exhibited higher content of sphingomyelin and phosphatidylserine, while the normal samples contained more lysophosphatidylcholine. The glycosphingolipids of both types of samples consisted mainly of glucosyl- and lactosylceramides. The major glyceroglucolipid of the normal tracheobronchial secretions was tetraglucosyl glyceroglucolipid, whereas hexa-and octaglucosyl glyceroglucolipids were the predominant compounds of the cystic fibrosis secretions.