| Summary: | Normal human serum phospholipids were fractionated by silicic acid column chromatography. A large number of fractions was obtained with which it was possible to study the effect of fatty acid composition on elution rate. Phospholipids containing unsaturated fatty acids eluted from the silicic acid column more rapidly than their saturated analogues. It was found that lecithin could not be cleanly separated from sphingomyelin by any concentration of methanol or multiple-solvent elution scheme. The fatty acid compositions of the individual phospholipids were studied. Phosphatidyl ethanolamine was the most unsaturated phospholipid of serum; lecithin, sphingomyelin, and lysolecithin showed less unsaturation, in that order. In all phospholipids, 20 and 22 carbon unsaturated fatty acids were present. Long-chain saturated, as well as odd-chain saturated, fatty acids were present and were particularly prominent in the sphingomyelin fraction.
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