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Endocrine Abstracts (2014) 35 P381 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.35.P381

1Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Internal Medicine, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland; 2Department of Experimental Pharmacology, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland; 3Departmentof Physiology, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland; 4Department of Statistics and Medical Informatics, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.


Ceramide (Cer) and sphingomyelin (SM) belong to a family of sphingolipids (SLs). Both SLs are mixtures of many species, differed in length and saturation of the fatty acid chain. Cer and SM are important components of the plasma membrane. In addition, Cer is a cellular second messenger, mediating apoptosis. The altered profiles of blood plasma/serum SLs were found in many pathologies. Interestingly, circulating SLs were proposed to be the early predictors of Alzheimer disease. We tested whether serum Cer and SM levels undergo changes in diabetic patients. The newly diagnosed patients were divided in two groups: those with diabetes type 1 (n=39) and type 2 (n=21), based on the presence or absence of anti-GAD antibodies. The age-matched individuals were used as controls (n=15). SLs were extracted from serum of the subjects and analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography. Any significant changes were observed in total Cer and SM concentrations among studied groups. Both Cer and SM were grouped into SLs containing SAFAs (saturated fatty acids), MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids) and PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids). In all studied groups, only SM-PUFA levels significantly increased in patients with diabetes type 1. On the other hand, several Cer or SM species altered significantly in both types of diabetes. Thus, in serum of subjects with anti-GAD Abs, the significant elevations of SM-C16:0, SM-C16:1, SM-C18:1, SM-C18:2, SM-C18:3 and SM-C20:4 were noted, whereas patients without anti-GAD Abs revealed an augmentation of SM-C16:1, SM-C18:3 and Cer-C18:0 levels, and decrease of Cer-C14:0 concentration. In conclusion, patients with diabetes type 1 presented distinct pattern of SL changes in serum than those with diabetes type 2. However, the further studies are needed to determine the possible suitability of SL profiling as a diagnostic tool in diabetes.

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