BIOCHEMISTRY OF THE NORMAL DURA MATER
OF THE HUMAN BRAIN
D E T E R M I N A T I O N O F W A T E R , S O D I U M , P O T A S S I U M , C A L C I U M , P H O S P H O R U S ,
M A G N E S I U M , C O P P E R , I R O N , S U L F U R A N D N I T R O G E N C O N T E N T S
HORACIO M . CANELAS*;
J U L I N H O A I S E N * * * ;
FRANCISCO B . D E JORGE**;
ABRÃO A N G H I N A H * * * *
The studies on the chemical composition of the meninges are very
scarce in the literature. The detailed handbook of Long, King and Sperry
9has not the item on meninges, and the rare communications on the subject
deal only with the concentrations of organic compounds and enzymes.
As a contribution to the knowledge on the inorganic constitution of
these membranes, a study was carried out on the concentrations of water,
sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, iron, sulfur,
and nitrogen in the dura mater of human subjects dead in consequence of
craniocerebral trauma and showing no apparent disease of the brain or its
envelopes.
M A T E R I A L A N D M E T H O D S
S p e c i m e n s o f d u r a m a t e r w e i g h i n g f r o m 1 . 0 3 1 2 t o 2 . 0 9 9 8 g w e r e r e m o v e d f r o m 1 8 c o r p s e s w i t h l e s s t h a n 2 4 h o u r s o f d e a t h d u e t o c r a n i o c e r e b r a l t r a u m a . S i x t e e n c a s e s w e r e m a l e ; 1 2 w e r e w h i t e , 4 m u l a t t o e s a n d 2 n e g r o e s . A g e s v a r i e d f r o m 1 0 t o 7 3 y e a r s , b u t t h e m a j o r i t y w a s i n t h e 2 n d , 3 r d a n d 4 t h d e c a d e s ( T a b l e 1 ) .
T h e s a m p l e s o f d u r a m a t e r w e r e r e m o v e d f r o m t h e r i g h t o r l e f t h a l f o f t h e c r a n i a l v a u l t ; t h e y h a d a n o r m a l a s p e c t a n d c o n t a i n e d n o d u r a l s i n u s e s o r h e m o r -r h a g i c s u f f u s i o n s . T h e s a m p l e s w e -r e i m m e d i a t e l y p l a c e d i n a g l a s s w i t h a p l a s t i c c o v e r a n d p u t i n a f r e e z e r . A f t e r w a r d s e a c h s a m p l e w a s c o l l e c t e d i n a p o r c e l a i n c r u c i b l e a n d h e a t e d a t 1 0 0 ° C f o r a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 2 h r . u n t i l a c o n s t a n t w e i g h t w a s r e a c h e d . T h e s a m p l e s w e r e a s h e d i n a f u r n a c e o v e r n i g h t a t 5 5 0 ° C . T h e a s h e s w e r e d i s s o l v e d i n a k n o w n v o l u m e o f 2 N - H C 1 . I n t h i s s o l u t i o n s o d i u m a n d p o t a s s i u m w e r e d e t e r m i n e d b y f l a m e s p e c t r o s c o p y i n a C o l e m a n m o d e l 2 0 ; c a l c i u m
F r o m t h e D e p a r t m e n t s o f N e u r o l o g y ( * A s s o c i a t e P r o f e s s o r , * * * A s s i s t a n t n e u
r o s u r g e o n , * * * * A s s i s t a n t p r o f e s s o r ) a n d M e d i c i n e ( * * C h i e f o f L a b o r a t o r y ) , U n i
-v e r s i t y o f S ã o P a u l o S c h o o l o f M e d i c i n e .
Acknowledgements — T h e a u t h o r s a c k n o w l e d g e D r . A r n a l d o S i q u e i r a , D i r e c t o r o f t h e M e d i c o l e g a l I n s t i t u t e o f S ã o P a u l o , t h e p e r m i s s i o n f o r r e m o t i o n o f t h e d u r a
b y t h e C l a r k a n d C o l l i p 2
m e t h o d ; p h o s p h o r u s b y t h a t o f F i s k e a n d S u b b a r o w 1 5
; m a g -n e s i u m w a s d e t e r m i -n e d b y t h e y e l l o w t i t a -n m e t h o d ( D e J o r g e , S i l v a a -n d C i -n t r a4
) ; i r o n b y W o n g 1 0
m e t h o d ; n i t r o g e n b y t h a t o f K j e l d a h l7
. C o p p e r w a s d e t e r m i n e d b y t h e d i e t h y l d i t h i o c a r b a m a t e m e t h o d ( D e J o r g e , C a n e l a s a n d C o s t a - S i l v a3
) . A l l r e a g e n t s w e r e t e s t e d f o r c o p p e r c o n t a m i n a t i o n . T h e w a t e r u s e d i n a l l o p e r a t i o n s w a s r e d i s t i l l e d i n a n a l l g l a s s d i s t i l l e r . T h e g l a s s w a r e u s e d f o r a n a l y t i c a l d e t e r -m i n a t i o n s w a s s o a k e d o v e r n i g h t i n c h r o -m i c a c i d a n d w a s h e d t h o r o u g h l y w i t h r e d i s t i l l e d w a t e r . T h e m a t e r i a l w a s b o i l e d i n a 2 0 % H C 1 s o l u t i o n f o r 2 h r , w a s h e d w i t h r e d i s t i l l e d w a t e r , a n d p u t i n a n o v e n t o d r y w i t h i n a g l a s s c o n t a i n e r . S u l f u r w a s d e t e r m i n e d b y t h e t u r b i d i m e t r i c m e t h o d d e s c r i b e d e l s e w h e r e ( D e J o r g e , S i l v a a n d C i n t r a5
; C a n e l a s , D e J o r g e , P e r e i r a a n d S a l l u m1
) .
T h e r e s u l t s w e r e e x p r e s s e d i n t e r m s o f d r y w e i g h t : m e q u i v / 1 0 0 g ( K , N a , M g ) , m g / 1 0 0 g ( C a , P , S , F e ) , g / 1 0 0 g ( N ) a n d fig/100 g ( C u ) .
R E S U L T S
T h e a v e r a g e c o n c e n t r a t i o n s o f w a t e r , s o d i u m , p o t a s s i u m , c a l c i u m , p h o s p h o r u s , m a g n e s i u m , c o p p e r , i r o n , s u l f u r a n d n i t r o g e n i n t h e n o r m a l d u r a m a t e r a r e p r e s e n t e d i n T a b l e 2 .
C O M M E N T S
Although varying between wide limits, the concentration of calcium in
the normal human pachymeninx showed to be very high. This is in
agree-ment with te results of Knoblic and Olsen
8mate-rial, however, no correlation was found between the Ca contents of the
dura mater and age (r = 0.302; t
r= 1.268; 0.3 > P > 0.2).
W e have not seen in the literature any reference to the concentrations
of the other elements in normal human dura mater.
S U M M A R Y
The concentrations of water, sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus,
magnesium, copper, iron, sulfur, and nitrogen were determined in samples
of apparently normal dura mater removed from 18 subjects recently dead
by craniocerebral trauma.
The average concentrations expressed in dry weight w e r e : water
79.55 g/100 g ± 2.52; sodium 1.63 mequiv/100 g ± 0 . 2 7 ; potassium
3.68 mequiv/100 g ± 0.66; calcium 119.84 mg/100 g ± 107.40;
phos-phorus 68.2 mg/100 g ± 34.5; magnesium 0.61 mequiv/100 g ± 0.37;
copper 249.8 /xg/100 g ± 109.4; iron 0.82 mg/100 g ± 0.28; sulfur 490.7
m g / 1 0 0 g ± 22.5; nitrogen 3.33 g/100 g ± 0.17.
R E S U M O
Estudo bioquímico da dura mater normal do cérebro humano: conteúdo
de água, sódio, potássio, cálcio, fósforo, magnésio, cobre
ferro, enxôfre e nitrogênio
Foram determinadas as concentrações de água, sódio, potássio, cálcio,
fósforo, magnésio, cobre, ferro, enxôfre e nitrogênio de espécimes de dura
máter aparentemente normal retirados de 18 indivíduos recentemente
fale-cidos em conseqüência de traumatismo crânio-encefálico.
mg/100
± 109,4; ferro 0,82 mg/100 g ± 0,28; enxôfre 490,7 mg/100 g ±
22,5; nitrogênio 3,33 g/100 g ± 0,17.
R E F E R E N C E S
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m a g n e s i u m , c o p p e r , a n d s u l p h u r c o n t e n t s o f a s t r o c y t o m a t a , m e d u l l o b l a s t o m a t a
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C h e m . 6 3 : 4 6 1 - 4 8 4 , 1 9 2 5 .
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1 0 . W O N G , S . Y . — C o l o r i m e t r i c d e t e r m i n a t i o n o f i r o n a n d h e m o g l o b i n i n b l o o d .
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