title: [Sphingolipids, possible biomarkers for atherosclerotic disorders].
abstract: Sphingolipids have been recently elucidated to be not only mere components of the plasma membrane but also bioactive mediators which can induce various biological responses. Among these lipids, sphingomyelin(SM) and sphingosine 1-phosphate (Sph-1-P) are proposed to be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis: SM is abundant in atherosclerotic lesions and Sph-1-P is bound to HDL and attributes to the anti-atherosclerotic properties of HDL at least partly. Therefore, Sph-1-P and SM can be useful biomarkers for atherosclerotic disorders. However, at present, the measurement of Sph-1-P and SM levels has not been brought into clinical practice, yet. The main obstacle is the difficulty in measuring these sphingolipids precisely, rapidly, and conveniently. Recently, we have developed new methods for measuring Sph-1-P (HPLC method) and SM (enzymatic method). These methods are easy to be introduced into clinical laboratory testing because they do not need any special techniques and equipment. With this method for SM, we have demonstrated that the SM concentration was significantly higher in subjects with acute coronary syndrome. In this paper, we reviewed the possibility of sphingolipids as biomarkers for atherosclerotic disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan. okawar-lab@h.u-tokyo.ac.jp
authors.forename: Ryunosuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ohkawa
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurano
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Shigeo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okubo
authors.forename: Hiromitsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yokota
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yatomi
mesh_terms: D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008246:Lysophospholipids / Q000097:blood; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013107:Sphingolipids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D013110:Sphingosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D008246:Lysophospholipids; D013107:Sphingolipids; C060506:sphingosine 1-phosphate; D013110:Sphingosine