Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 September 2015
We investigated the serum fatty acid profiles of cholesterol esters, phospholipids and triglycerides in 24 patients with Friedreich's disease and 16 patients with other forms of spinocerebellar degeneration. In 8 patients with Friedreich's disease we also analyzed the fatty acid profile of the lipoprotein fractions. We found no major differences in fatty acid profiles between ataxic patients and sex and age-matched controls; in particular there was no decrease of linoleic acid in Friedreich's disease. The level of linoleic acid in serum cholesterol esters decreased with increasing disability of patients.