Ganglioside patterns in human spinal cord

Objective: To examine the distribution of gangliosides in human cervical and lumbar spinal cord. Setting: Magdeburg, Germany. Methods: The ganglioside distribution of human cervical and lumbar spinal cord enlargements from 10 neurological normal patients was analyzed. Gangliosides were isolated from different areas corresponding to the columna anterior, columna lateralis and columna posterior. Results: Ganglioside GfD1b/GD1b and GD3 were the most abundant gangliosides in all examined tissues. The total concentration of sialic acid bound gangliosides GM2 and GM3 was less than 5%. The GD3 fraction constantly consisted of a double band as assessed by TLC after lipid extraction. There were significant differences in the ganglioside distribution when comparing tissue from the columna anterior, columna lateralis and columna posterior of the lumbar enlargement of the spinal cord. Conclusion: Differences in the ganglioside composition in human spinal cord regions may reflect the different function of those molecules in the two regions investigated.