LIPIDS PRESENT IN BRAIN AND NERVOUS TISSUE 753 



As early as 1907, Koch 278 reported the presence of sulfolipids in the sub- 

 maxillary glands, liver, testes, and muscle; he 279 later demonstrated that 

 the highest concentrations of these lipids were in the white matter of the 

 brain. 278 Sulfur-containing lipids have likewise been demonstrated in the 

 kidney 274 and in the lung. 280 Blix 277 suggested that cerebroside sulfuric 

 acid is the sulfur-containing component of "jecorin," isolated by Drech- 

 sel 281 and by Baldi 282 from dog and rabbit liver, beef spleen, horse blood 

 and muscle, as well as from human brain, and by Manasse 283 from the ad- 

 renal gland of cattle and horses, although this author expressed some doubt 

 as to the identity of the substance. It may likewise be related to the 

 "ovins" present in egg yolk. 284 



(e) Lipid Anticoagulant in Brain Tissue. Tocantius and associates 285 

 called attention to a new heat-labile lipid inhibitor of blood coagulation 

 which could be extracted from brain tissue, and which differed from any 

 known anticoagulants. It is not certain whether or not it is related to the 

 fatty acid which has been reported to exhibit hemolytic action. Laser and 

 Friedman 286 were the first to isolate a solid acid from human blood, which 

 possessed a strong hemolytic activity. It was later found to be widely 

 distributed, particularly in the brain. 287 Morton and Todd 288 have now 

 isolated an unsaturated acid from horse brain which exhibits a consider- 

 able hemolytic action. It was identified as cfs-octadec-11-enoic acid, and 

 has not hitherto been reported in nature. Oleic acid was present as a con- 

 taminant. The synthetic as-acid was shown to possess a physiologic 

 activity similar to that of the natural product. Goddard and Alexander, 289 

 on the basis of monolayer properties, confirmed the identity of as-octadec- 

 1 1-enoic acid with the hemolytic acid. However, they concluded that the 

 natural hemolytic acid is a mixture of oleic acid and the afore-mentioned 

 m-acid. 



278 W. Koch, Z. physiol. Chem., 53, 496-507 (1907). 



279 W. Koch and M. L. Koch, J. Biol. Chem., 31, 395-410 (1917). 



280 U. Sammartino, Biochem. Z., 124, 234-243 (1921). 



281 E. Drechsel, J. prakt. Chem. [n.s.], 33, 425-432 (1886). 



282 D. Baldi, Arch. Physiol, Suppl, 1887, 100-108. 



283 P. Manasse, Z. physiol. Chem., 20, 478-488 (1895). 



284 N. A. Barbieri, Compt. rend., 145, 133-135 (1907). 



286 L. M. Tocantius, R. T. Carroll, and T. J. McBride, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 68, 

 110-117 (1948). 



286 H. Laser and E. Friedman, Nature, 156, 507 (1945). 



287 H. Laser, J. Physiol., 110, 338-355 (1949). 



288 1. D. Morton and A. R. Todd, Biochem. J., 47, 327-330 (1950). 



289 E. D. Goddard and A. E. Alexander, Biochem. J., 47, 331-335 (1950). 



