Abstract

Abstract— The developmental profiles of individual gangliosides of human brain were compared with those of rat brain. Interest was focused mainly on the pre‐ and early postnatal development. Human frontal lobe cortex covering the period from 10 foetal weeks to adult age and the cerebrum of rat from birth to 21 days were analysed. Lipid‐NANA and lipid‐P were followed; in the rat, also protein and brain weight. A limited number of samples of human cerebral white matter and cerebellar cortex were also studied. The following major results were obtained: The ganglioside concentration increased approximately three‐fold within a short period: in rat cerebrum, from birth to the 17th day; in human cerebral cortex, from the 15th foetal week to the age of about 6 months. The largest increase in the rat brain occurred by the 11th to the 13th day; in human brain by term. The relative increase of gangliosides during this period was more rapid than that of phospholipids. A hitherto unknown distinct early period of ganglioside and phospholipid formation in rat occurred by the second to fourth day. The changes in brain ganglioside pattern, characteristic of the developmental stages of the rat, were found to be equally pronounced in the human brain. Regional developmental differences in the ganglioside pattern were demonstrated in human brain. A characteristic white matter pattern, rich in monosialogangliosides, had developed by the age of 1 year. The increase in ganglioside concentration and the formation of the definitive ganglioside pattern of cerebellar cortex occurred later than in cerebral cortex. This cerebellar pattern was characterized by a very large trisialoganglioside fraction. The two periods of rapid ganglioside metabolism in rat brain preceded the two periods of rapid protein biosynthesis.