Ganglioside alterations in guinea pig brains at end stages of experimental Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Gangliosides were isolated from guinea pig brains at the end stages of experimental Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Quantitative analyses revealed marked decreases of ganglioside levels in pathologically devastated tissues such as cerebral cortex (-21%), basal ganglia and thalamus (-18%), and brain stem (-23%). The cerebellum revealed only minor pathological abnormalities and its ganglioside level remained unchanged. Thin-layer chromatography of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob brain gangliosides showed aberrant ganglioside patterns in all regions studied, including the cerebellum. With some exceptions, a trend in ganglioside pattern changes was detected which consisted of proliferation of G_M3, G_D3, G_D2 and loss of G_M1, G_D1a, G_D1b and G_T1b^** ** The ganglioside nomenclature system of Svennerholm (1963) is used. The structures of some of the gangliosides have been compiled recently (Ledeen and Yu 1976)..