title: Identification of a new sphingolipid 3-O-acyl-D-erythro-sphingomyelin in newborn pig and infant plasma.
abstract: A new sphingolipid was found in newborn pig plasma at a level of 2.5 +/- 0.4% of total lipids. The compound decreased to less than half that amount by day one of age and virtually disappeared by the fourth week. On thin-layer chromatography (TLC) the new lipid migrated close to phosphatidylethanolamine. The compound was isolated by TLC from the plasma of newborn piglets and identified as a 3-O-acyl-D-erythro-sphingomyelin by chemical and chromatographic techniques, 1H- and 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance and fast-atom bombardment mass spectrometry. Mild alkaline hydrolysis at room temperature gave mainly C16 and C18 fatty acids and sphingomyelin. Subsequent reaction with Ba(OH)2 released long-chain saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids from C14 to C24, and sphingosine which was identified as the erythro configuration by gas chromatography. Less than 1% of the sphingosine was of the C20 isomer. No hydroxy fatty acids were found. The acylated sphingomyelin was only found in plasma lipids of newborn piglets and not in their red blood cell membranes or platelets of newborn piglets, or in sow plasma. This compound was tentatively identified by chromatography in trace amounts in the serum of cord blood of newborn infants, but not in the plasma lipids of adults.
authors.affiliation: Center for Food and Animal Research, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Blackwell
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Dugan
authors.forename: F D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Sauer
mesh_terms: D000215:Acylation; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D016339:Spectrometry, Mass, Fast Atom Bombardment; D013109:Sphingomyelins / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D013109:Sphingomyelins