Application of delayed extraction matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry for analysis of sphingolipids in tissues from sphingolipidosis patients

Sphingolipidosis is due to defects in enzymes involved in hydrolysis of sphingolipids. We analyzed sphingolipids in tissues from patients with sphingolipidosis, including Farber disease (FD, acid ceramidase deficiency), Gaucher disease (GD), Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPDC), and GM1-gangliosidosis (GM1G), using delayed extraction matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (DE MALDI-TOF-MS). Crude lipids were extracted from about 100 mg wet weight of autopsied tissues, including liver, spleen, cerebrum or cerebellum. After mild alkaline treatment, a sphingolipid fraction was prepared from the crude lipids and analyzed by DE MALDI-TOF-MS. The results were as follows: (a) In FD liver both the ceramide/sphingomyelin and ceramide/monohexosylceramide ratios were significantly high; (b) in both liver and spleen from a GD patient, the glucosylceramide/sphingomyelin ratio was raised; (c) in liver from a NPDC patient, the monohexosylceramide/sphingomyelin ratio was markedly low, suggesting an increase of sphingomyelin; and (d) in all tissues examined in the GM1G patient, GM1-gangliosides or asialo-GM1-gangliosides, that are undetectable in a normal control, were increased. In conclusion, sphingolipids in human tissues could be directly determined by DE MALDI-TOF-MS, with only a small amount of specimens. This method will be useful for the diagnosis and biochemical evaluation of sphingolipidosis patients. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.