Abstract
Extract: Erythrocyte stromal lipid analysis has been performed on 26 healthy children spanning the age groups from 6 months to 14 years of age. Total lipid, lipid phosphorus and cholesterol per cell are similar in children between the ages of 6 months and 6 years. These values, in milligrams, for the 6–12 month age group are (4.42 ± 0.42) X 10-10, (0.98 ± 0.08) X 10-11 and (1.22 ± 0.04) X 10-10, respectively. After 6 years of age, there is an increase toward the adult values, with children in the 10–14 year age group having values, in milligrams per cell, of: total lipid, (4.83 ± 0.32) X 10-10; lipid phosphorus, (1.15 ± 0.10) X 10-11; cholesterol, (1.26 ± 0.06) X 10-10. Changes in cell lipid content reflect primarily changes in cell size over the age period studied. In the younger age groups, the percentage of total lipid as phospholipid is lower and that as cholesterol is higher than in children over age 6 and in adults (age group 6–12 months, percentage of total lipid as phosphorus = 2.22 ± 0.05, that as cholesterol = 27.7 ± 3.0; age group 10–14 yr, percentage as phosphorus = 2.39 ±0.17, percentage as cholesterol = 26.1 ± 1.8). Phospholipid fractionation reveals a consistent level of sphingomyelin so that average values for all age groups studied range only from 23.9% to 24.4% of total phospholipid. Phosphatidyl choline is lowest in the youngest children studied (25.5% in age 6–12 months), and increases to adult levels after 6 years of age (28.8% in age group 6–10 yr; 28.2% in age group 10–14 yr). Consequently, the ratio of sphingomyelin phosphatidyl choline more closely approximates the neonatal value below 6 yr and the lower adult value after 6 yr. Fatty acids es-terified to phospholipid remain relatively constant throughout the age groups studied and do not differ markedly from adult values by the end of the first year of life.
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Neerhout, R. Erythrocyte Lipids in Childhood. Pediatr Res 6, 736–741 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197207000-00007
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197207000-00007