i(3)so3-galactosylceramide and behenic-acid

The prolonged incubation of dilute plasma on ice in the presence of added sulphatide vesicles or the long-chain saturated fatty acids (FA) stearic acid (C18:0) or behenic acid (C22:0) induced a concentration-dependent increase in factor VII coagulant activity (VIIc). The addition of FA at various ratios to human serum albumin showed the micellar non-bound pool to be responsible for this effect, FA bound to the high-affinity or low-affinity binding sites of albumin having no influence on VIIc. Plasma VIIc also increased following addition of behenate-enriched lipoprotein particles produced by incubation of the d < 1.006 g/ml lipoprotein fraction with this FA, or addition of lipoprotein remnants produced by pre-incubation of the d < 1.006 g/ml fraction with lipoprotein lipase. Long-chain saturated fatty acids in the interface of lipoprotein remnants, produced by the interaction of triglyceride-rich lipoprotein particles with lipoprotein lipase, appear to provide a surface that activates the contact system of coagulation and subsequently factor VII.

Topics: Anticoagulants; Citrates; Citric Acid; Factor VII; Fatty Acids; Female; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Lipoprotein Lipase; Lipoproteins; Lipoproteins, VLDL; Liposomes; Plasma; Pregnancy; Serum Albumin; Sulfoglycosphingolipids; Triglycerides

The patient was a 27-year-old man who developed spastic quadriplegia and cerebral disorders. Initial signs were gait disturbance, spastic paraplegia, and sphincter disturbance; these occurred when he was 21. Upon autopsy, the white matter of the brain and spinal cord showed diffuse demyelination, and the adrenal glands and right testis were atrophic. Cytoplasmic striations seen by light microscopy and trilamellar inclusions seen by electron microscopy were found in ballooned adrenocortical cells. Trilamellar inclusions were also observed in macrophages of the affected cerebral white matter. Biochemical analysis disclosed a high ratio (0.27) of hexacosanoic acid (C26:0) to docosanoic acid (C22:0) in cerebrosides and sulfatides of the cerebrum. The histological features as well as the result of biochemical analysis were those of classical adrenoleukodystrophy. However, the time of the onset of clinical signs and the duration of the disease were different in the present case from classical adrenoleukodystrophy. The case presented here was diagnosed as adrenoleukomyeloneuropathy, which is a variant of adrenoleukodystrophy.

Topics: Adrenoleukodystrophy; Adult; Autopsy; Cerebrosides; Diffuse Cerebral Sclerosis of Schilder; Fatty Acids; Histocytochemistry; Humans; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Male; Microscopy, Electron; Spinal Cord; Sulfoglycosphingolipids