Abstract
Ceramides in human plasma have been isolated, identified and quantitated, using silicic acid chromatography, thin-layer chromatography, argentation chromatography of the ceramide acetates, and gas-liquid chromatography—mass spectrometry of ceramide trimethylsilyl ethers. Synthetic ceramides were prepared and used as references. Only ceramides with normal fatty acids were detected. Sphingosine was the main long-chain base, but ceramides with hexadecasphingosine, heptadecasphingosine, sphingadienine, sphinganine, and nonadecasphingosine were also found. Ceramides with long chain fatty acids dominated. The total amount of ceramides was 5.64 ± 1.51 μg/ml among 27 apparently healthy subjects.