Application Notes:
This product is a well-defined sulfatide containing a heptadecanoyl group acylated to the amine of the sphingosine and is
ideal as an internal standard.1 Sulfatide is a type of sulfolipid that is found primarily in the central nervous system and is a
myelin-specific sphingolipid. A deficiency of sulfatide in white and gray matter has been associated with Alzheimer’s
disease and other types of dementia. Apoliprotein E plays an important regulating role in the metabolism of sulfatides.2 The
production of anti-sulfatide antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid, leading to a deficiency in sulfatides, may be a cause of
degeneration of the myelin sheath, leading to multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases.3 Metachromatic
leukodystrophy is an inherited disorder characterized by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme arylsulfatase A and the
subsequent accumulation of sulfatide in neural and visceral tissues.4 Sulfatide also regulates the differentiation of
oligodendroblasts. Central nervous system (CNS) myelin is strongly inhibitory to growing axons and sulfatides present in the
myelin of the CNS have been identified as major myelin-associated axon growth inhibitors.5 A low level of serum sulfatides
has been linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in some situations. Sulfatides in the myelin, especially cistetracosenoyl-
sulfatides, stimulate a distinct population of CD1d-restricted natural killer T cells giving these sulfatides
important implications for the design of therapeutics that target T cells reactive for myelin glycolipids in autoimmune
diseases of the central nervous system.6
References:
1. Benoit Colsch, Y. et al. “Synthetic sulfogalactosylceramide (sulfatide) and its use for the mass spectrometric quantitative urinary determination in metachromatic leukodystrophies” Glycoconjugate Journal, Vol. 25(2) pp. 147-155, 2008
2. H. Cheng, Y. Zhou, D. M. Holtzman, X. Han “Apolipoprotein E mediates sulfatide depletion in animal models of Alzheimer's disease.” Neurobiology of Aging August 2008
3. Ramesh C. Halder, A. Jahng, I. Maricic and Vipin Kumar “Mini Review: Immune Response to Myelin-Derived Sulfatide and CNS-Demyelination” Neurochemical Research, February, Vol. 32(2): 257, 2007
4. Phillip D. Whitfield, Peter C. Sharp, David W. Johnson, Paul Nelson and Peter J. Meikle “Characterization of Urinary Sulfatides in Metachromatic Leukodystrophy Using Electrospray Ionization-Tandem Mass Spectrometry” Molecular Genetics and Metabolism, May Vol. 73(1): 30, 2001
5. A. Winzeler et al. “The Lipid Sulfatide Is a Novel Myelin-Associated Inhibitor of CNS Axon Outgrowth” The Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 31 pp. 6481-6492, 2011
6. D. Zajonc et al. “Structural basis for CD1d presentation of a sulfatide derived from myelin and its implications for autoimmunity” The Journal of Experimental Medicine, vol. 202 pp. 1517-1526, 2005