THE EFFECT OF TRI-o-CRESYL PHOSPHATE INTOXICATION ON PHOSPHOLIPID SYNTHESIS IN CAT SPINAL CORD

Abstract

Demyelination was produced in cats by the intramuscular administration of 0.4 ml/kg of tri-o-cresyl phosphate (TOCP), and spinal cord was removed and assayed for lipid phosphorus. Spinal cord mince was incubated with choline bromide-1,2-C¹⁴, ethauolamine. HCl-1,2-C¹⁴, or L-serine-3-C¹⁴, and the incorporation of these substrates into the alkali-labile fraction was measured. A significant difference in the lipid phosphorus content of the caudal and cervical sections of spinal cord was observed in both normal and TOCP-treated animals. The lipid phosphorus and the percentage of the lipid phosphorus present as phosphatidyl ethanolamine was significantly increased in the cervical cord of the TOCP-injected cats. No differences were found in the incorporation of the labelled substrates into the phosphatides of the alkali-labile, alkali-stable acid-labile, or alkali-stable acid-stable phospholipids, or into the total lipid phosphorus of minced spinal cord from normal or TOCP-treated cats.