NMR spectroscopic identification of cholesterol esters, plasmalogen and phenolic glycolipids as fingerprint markers of human intracranial tuberculomas

Detailed 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy of lipid extracts from 12 human intracranial tuberculomas and two control brain tissue samples was performed to assess the role of lipids in the disease process. One‐dimensional and two‐dimensional NMR techniques were used to resolve the mixture of lipid components and make resonance assignments. The lipid components that could be identified in tuberculoma lipid extracts and not in control samples were: cholesterol ester, plasmalogen and phenolic glycolipids. It is proposed that the combined occurrence of these lipid components can be used as ‘fingerprint markers’ for the differentiation of intracranial tuberculoma from healthy brain tissue. Furthermore, phenolic glycolipids present in intracranial tuberculomas may have diagnostic significance in differentiating them from other disease conditions of the central nervous system such as malignant tumors. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.