Urinary levels of blood group A trisaccharide: observations in two siblings with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis.

A readily detectable carbohydrate in the urine of two siblings with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis was found to be the blood group A trisaccharide. One child expired before blood typing was done while the other sibling was AB. This latter child excreted greater amounts of the trisaccharide than a group of blood type A subjects with different diagnoses when all the subjects were receiving whole or skim milk by nasogastric feedings. While the relevance of this observation to neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis is unknown, it has been shown that the trisaccharide may be a major urinary carbohydrate depending on diet and blood type.