CORTICAL AND MEDULLARY LIPIDS OF NORMAL AND NEPHROSCLEROTIC HUMAN KIDNEY

1. 1. Major lipid classes from cortical and medullary zones of normal and nephrosclerotic human kidneys have been isolated and the fatty acid composition of each determined. 2. 2. The nephrosclerotic tissue contained two times more total lipid than the normal kidney but, irrespective of kidney pathology, phospholipids were the major cortical lipids and neutral lipids were the predominant lipids in medullary zones. 3. 3. Human kidney contained large amounts of phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylethanolamines and sphingomyelins and although these were slightly increased in the sclerotic kidney, anatomical differences in phospholipid content were not significant. 4. 4. Quantitative differences between the zones of normal kidney were found with triglycerides, diglycerides. free fatty acids and cholesterol; overall, the sclerotic tissue contained more triglycerides and small amounts of cholesterol esters with less significant regional differences. 5. 5. Palmitic, oleic and stearic acid were the major fatty acids of neutral lipids; these plus linoleic acid were prevalent in phospholipids. © 1978.