1 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Departments of Physiology and Pediatrics, University of Tennessee, Memphis
Lecithin, sphingomyelin, lyso-lecithin and cephalins were determined in the cord serum of ten newborns and in the serum of their respective mothers, drawn just prior to their delivery. Significant differences were found in the amount and distribution of serum phospholipids, as well as in the fatty acid pattern of serum lecithins, between newborn and mother.
The findings were interpreted to mean that at parturition a placental barrier exists between maternal and fetal serum phospholipids.
The mothers, at the conclusion of their pregnancy, showed characteristic differences in their serum phospholipid concentrations and in the fatty acid distribution of serum lecithin from non-pregnant women.
Submitted on April 4, 1966