Metabolic Analysis: Tracing Gangliosides and Precursors in Foods.

We describe herein a practical method for analyzing gangliosides in food and in the blood and tissues of mice that have ingested the food. In this method, the oligosaccharide moiety of gangliosides is enzymatically released, labeled with a fluorescent substance, and analyzed using an in-line fluorescence detector in high-performance liquid chromatography. By using a high-performance liquid chromatography system equipped with an amide column that can separate oligosaccharides with different structures, the amount and ratio of ganglioside molecular species in samples can be analyzed. By comparing the data obtained using this method, we can investigate the influence of a diet on the ganglioside content of different tissues in the body.