SPHINGOLIPIDS OF DEVELOPING HUMAN CENTRAL NERVOUS TISSUE: CHANGES IN COMPOSITION OF SPHINGOSINE BASES12

Abstract —Developmental changes in composition of sphingosine bases of cerebrosides, sulphatides and sphingomyelins were investigated in samples from brain stem or corpus callosum from premature infants and patients aged 14 months, 39 and 59 years who died of non‐neurological causes. Since insufficient material was obtainable from the premature brains, sulphatides were studied only in older cases. Individual sphingolipids were isolated by combinations of column chromatography and TLC, and were examined for purity by analytical TLC. Sphingosine bases were released by acid‐catalysed methanolysis, and analysed as aldehydes by GLC. Effectiveness and limitations of methods used for analyses of sphingosine bases were evaluated. In contrast to adult sphingolipids in which approximately 95 per cent of the sphingosine bases was 18: sphingosine, as much as 10 per cent of the total was 18: dihydrosphingosine in immature sphingolipids. A compound tentatively identified as 20: sphingosine was present in foetal, infant and adult sphingomyelin at 5, 3 and 1 per cent of the total, respectively. Composition of sphingosine bases of non‐ganglioside sphingolipids in human brain varies with age, presumably in a complex manner.