SPHINGOSINE BASE AND FATTY ACID COMPOSITIONS OF PIG BRAIN SPHINGOLIPIDS

The sphingolipids, i.e., ceramide, cerebroside, sulfatide, sphingomyelin, and ganglioside were isolated in semiquantitative yield from the pig brain by combination of column and thin-layer chromatography and identified by thin-layer chromatography, infrared spectroscopy and quantitative analyses. The sphingosine base and fatty acid compositions of each sphingolipid were determined by gas-liquid chromatography. The sphingosine base composition of each sphingolipid showed a characteristic common pattern, having C18-sphingosine and C18-dihydrosphingosine as the predominant bases, but there were also considerable differences in the quantity of sphingosine base among different members of sphingolipid. A substantial amount of C20-sphingosine was found in ganglioside, and small quantities were also found in ceramide and sphingomyelin, while it was not detected in cerebroside and sulfatide. The sphingosine base compositions of cerebroside and sulfatide were very similar to each other; they contained more amounts of C18-dihydrosphingosine than those found in sphingomyelin and ceramide. The nonhydroxy fatty acid compositions of sphingomyelin, cerebroside I and sulfatide were similar in that the saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids of 14-26 carbons were contained although more stearic acid was detected in sphingomyelin. The fatty acid composition of ganglioside and ceramide was characteristic, in which stearic acid was found as the predominant acid. © 1969, Tohoku University Medical Press. All rights reserved.