COMPARISON OF CONTENT AND DISTRIBUTION OF HUMAN-MILK GANGLIOSIDES FROM SPANISH AND PANAMANIAN MOTHERS

The lactational changes in content and distribution of gangliosides in human milk from Spanish and Panamanian mothers delivering term newbor ns were studied. There were no statistically significant differences i n the concentration of gangliosides between Spanish and Panamanian mil k. The ganglioside content expressed as a function of total milk lipid s tended to decrease as lactation progressed in both types of milk. Th ere was a significant correlation (r=0.5896; p=0.0062) between ganglio side and total lipid contents in Panamanian milk. However, in Spanish milk, the correlation was not significant (r=0.1516; p=0.3439). We did not detect important differences in the relative concentrations of in dividual gangliosides during lactation among milk samples from Spanish and Panamanian mothers. For both of them, G(D3) was the most abundant ganglioside in colostrum, whilst in mature milk it was G(M3).