[Phospholipid makeup and content in various organs of rats with alloxan diabetes]

The phospholipid spectrum and their content in the liver, heart, kidneys and the brain of rats was studied comparatively under normal conditions and in alloxan diabetes. Under pathological conditions there occurred significant changes in the amount of individual phospholipids in all the organs, but the most pronounced changes were noted in the brain. A sharp increase of cardiolipin content and a regular reduction of choline-containing lipids--lecithin and sphyngomyelin--in the organs under study were characteristic of alloxan diabetes. Oscillations in the concentration of other phospholipid fractions (phosphatidyl serine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylethanolamine) had a definite organic specificity.