Glyceryl Ethers

Abstract: Summary The alkyl and alk-1-enyl glyceryl ether content of the neutral glyceride and phosphoglyceride fractions of 17 different human tumors and 19 normal human tissues was quantitatively determined. Neoplastic tissues generally contained much higher quantities of ether-linked neutral glycerides (primarily the alkyl type) than most normal tissues. Alkyl ethers in the phosphoglyceride fraction were also higher in most neoplasms, although the difference from normal tissues was not so pronounced as that observed for the glyceryl ethers present in the neutral glyceride fraction. The data obtained in this investigation of human tissues agree with previous observations from animal experiments, i.e., high levels of glyceryl ethers are a characteristic biochemical feature of neoplasia. The data have also shown the relative proportions of alkyl and alk-1-enyl ethers of glycerol in a variety of healthy human tissues. The highest quantities of glyceryl ethers were found in the neutral glyceride fraction of heart and kidney and in the phosphoglyceride fraction of lung, brain, spleen, larynx, heart, colon, and testes.