Adrenoleukodystrophy: fatty acid analysis of total glycerophospholipids in erythrocyte membranes

– The saturated fatty acids released from the erythrocyte membranes of four patients with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) and 14 diseased controls were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. The ratios of C26:0 to other saturated fatty acids in ALD were higher than those of diseased controls, and neither false-positive nor false-negative samples were observed. These results suggest that a study of fatty acids of total glycerophospholipids in erythrocyte membranes by high performance liquid chromatography is a useful diagnostic method of ALD.