The lipid composition of erythrocyte ghosts from a patient with congenital paramyotonia.

The membrane lipid and fatty acid compositions of red blood cells from a paramyotonia patient were investigated. Cholesterol and total phospholipid contents in paramyotonia were not different from control. Only the sphingomyelin content was lower, and thus the molar ratio of phosphatidylcholine/sphingomyelin was higher than normal. The major abnormality concerned the fatty acid pattern. In all the phospholipid classes saturated fatty acids were increased and unsaturated fatty acids were decreased. The overall ratio of saturated/unsaturated fatty acids was 2.1 vs 1.6 in controls. Similar findings have been reported for the sarcolemma from paramyotonia patients. Thus, the results indicate that the membrane defect in this disease may be generalized.