Analysis of Plasmalogen Species in Foodstuffs

Abstract

Ethanolamine plasmalogen (PlsEtn), which is present at high levels in brains, is believed to be involved in neuronal protection. The present study was performed to search for PlsEtn resources in foodstuffs. The foodstuffs examined showed a wide range of PlsEtn contents from 5 to 549 μmol/100 g wet wt. The marine invertebrates, blue mussel, and ascidian had high PlsEtn contents (over 200 μmol/100 g wet wt). Profiling of the molecular species showed that the predominant fatty acids of PlsEtn species were 20:5 (EPA) and 22:6 (DHA) at the sn-2 position of the glycerol moiety in marine foodstuffs, whereas major PlsEtn species in land foodstuffs were 20:4. Following quantitative analysis by multiple reaction monitoring, the ascidian viscera were shown to contain the highest levels of 18:0/20:5-PlsEtn and 18:0/22:6-PlsEtn (86 and 68 μmol/100 g wet wt, respectively). In order to evaluate a neuronal antiapoptotic effect of these PlsEtn species, human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells were treated with ethanolamine glycerophospholipid (EtnGpl), purified from the ascidian viscera, under serum starvation conditions. Extrinsic EtnGpl from ascidian viscera showed stronger suppression of cell death induced by serum starvation than with bovine brain EtnGpl. The EtnGpl from ascidian viscera strongly suppressed the activation of caspase 3. These results suggest that PlsEtn, especially that containing EPA and DHA, from marine foodstuffs is potentially useful for a therapeutic dietary supplement preventing neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Omega-3 fatty acids, lipids, and apoE lipidation in Alzheimer's disease: a rationale for multi-nutrient dementia prevention

“…Summing it up, the regulatory feed-back cycle, being necessary to adjust homeostasis, is converted to a feed-forward or futile cycle under pathological conditions enhancing A production. Because of their potential benefits as a nutritional supplement in AD, efforts have been made to identify sources of plasmalogens in food, like marine invertebrates, blue mussels, or ascidians, and to extract them from these sources (189). Plasmalogens derived from these natural sources have already been shown to suppress activation of caspase-3 in SH-SY5Y cells, further implicating a beneficial effect in AD (189).…”

“…Because of their potential benefits as a nutritional supplement in AD, efforts have been made to identify sources of plasmalogens in food, like marine invertebrates, blue mussels, or ascidians, and to extract them from these sources (189). Plasmalogens derived from these natural sources have already been shown to suppress activation of caspase-3 in SH-SY5Y cells, further implicating a beneficial effect in AD (189). Recently, at the First International Plasmalogen Symposium in Japan, results were presented suggesting beneficial effects of plasmalogens in clinical studies of patients with MCI.…”

Decrease in Intramuscular Levels of Phosphatidylethanolamine Bearing Arachidonic Acid During Postmortem Aging Depends on Meat Cuts and Breed

“…In terms of the plasmalogen content in beef meat reported in the literature, the given values are varied and also differ from those in the present work . The reasons for these inconsistencies are believed to arise from differences among the meat cuts, aging conditions, and cattle breed.…”

“…In terms of the plasmalogen content in beef meat reported in the literature, the given values are varied and also differ from those in the present work. [13,22] The reasons for these inconsistencies are believed to arise from differences among the meat cuts, aging conditions, and cattle breed. Improvement in cattle breed is achieved genetically and, such as for Japanese Black among the Wagyu, which have over 40% intramuscular fat, [23,24] and distinct metabolic systems.…”

“…The recently developed tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) technique offers definite benefits for the analysis of lipids, including PLs. [12,13] In our previous study, we developed a PL analysis method with high specificity and sensitivity based on liquid chromatography (LC)-MS/MS in the presence of alkali metal ions. [14,15] In particular, this method distinguished choline plasmalogen (PlsCho) and phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) as ChoGpl subclasses.…”