Developmental changes of monohexosylceramide and free ceramide in the large intestine of the rat.

Neutral glycosphingolipids were isolated from the colon of rats between birth and adulthood. The glycolipid concentration was stable during this period. Epithelial cells of the adult colon contained three times more glycolipids than the whole organ. The distribution pattern underwent only minor modifications during development. Free ceramide contributed for 23-27% of the total neutral sphingolipids at all ages. In 6-day-old rats, it was constituted of nonhydroxylated fatty acids linked to C18-sphingenine (57.3% of the bases), C18- and C20-4D-hydroxysphinganine (24.2 and 14.0% of the bases, respectively). This composition was essentially maintained during development. Glucosylceramide was the major glycolipid at all ages (40-50% of the total neutral sphingolipid content). At birth, 40% of its fatty acids were 2-hydroxylated and 93% of the bases were C18-4D-hydroxysphinganine. In adult epithelial cells, 75% of the fatty acids were 2-hydroxylated and C18- and C20-4D-hydroxysphinganine contributed for 66 and 25% of the bases, respectively. A transient increase of the contribution of nonhydroxylated fatty acids and C18-sphingenine was observed during the first week of life. C20-4D-hydroxysphinganine, which was characterized by gas-liquid chromatography of its aldehydes after periodate oxidation and of its N-acetyl O-trimethylsilyl derivatives, appeared after birth and reached 20% of the bases after two weeks. These findings are another example of the specificity of the lipidic part of glucosylceramide during the ontogenic differentiation.