Sphingolipids of human umbilical cord vein and their alteration in preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia is the most common pregnancy-associated pathological syndrome. It is accompanied by the accumulation of free fatty acids, acylglycerols and cholesterol esters in the umbilical cord vein (UCV). We evaluate the sphingolipid composition of UCV and its alteration in preeclampsia. The veins were taken from 10 newborns delivered by healthy mothers and 10 newborns delivered by mothers with preeclampsia. Thin layer chromatography, solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography were employed for sphingolipid analyses. The UCV walls of newborns delivered by healthy mothers are abundant in sphingomyelins and ceramides, whereas the amounts of sphingoid bases are rather low. Preeclampsia is associated with a significant decrease in sphingomyelins and ceramides, whereas the sphingoid bases changed in uncharacteristic manner. The increase in sphinganine and sphingosine 1-phosphate was accompanied with a decrease in sphingosine, hydroxysphinganine and sphinganine 1-phosphate. Stearate is the dominating fatty acid in sphingomyelins and ceramides of both control and preeclamptic veins. Sphingolipids and some sphingoid bases are bioactive molecules which contribute to regulation of signal transduction pathways, protein sorting and mediation of cell-to-cell interactions and recognition. The alteration in sphingolipid content may modify the metabolism of UCV wall resulting in remodelling of its composition.