Application Notes:
This product is a well-defined sulfatide containing a dodecanoic acid acylated to the amine of the sphingosine and is ideal as
an internal standard. Sulfatide is a type of sulfolipid that is found primarily in the central nervous system and is a myelinspecific
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.1 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.2 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.3 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.4 A low level of serum sulfatides has been linked with an
increased risk of cardiovascular disease in some situations. Sulfatides in the myelin, especially cis-tetracosenoyl-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.5
References:
1. 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
2. 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
3. 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
4. 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
5. 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