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Updated: Apr 6, 2026
Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Glycosphingolipid Antigens
Published on: April 16, 2013
Rapid, single-phase extraction of glucosylsphingosine from plasma: A universal screening and monitoring tool
Maria Fuller1, Jeff Szer2, Samantha Stark3
1Genetics and Molecular Pathology, SA Pathology [at Women's and Children's Hospital], 72 King William Road, North Adelaide, South Australia 5006, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia.
Background:
Glucosylsphingosine (GluSph) has emerged as a biomarker for the inherited metabolic disorder, Gaucher disease (GD). We developed a simple laboratory test to measure plasma GluSph and show that elevated GluSph is diagnostic for GD as well as informing on disease burden for monitoring patients on treatment.
Methods:
GluSph was measured from a single-phase total lipid extraction of 0.01 mL of plasma by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry and concentrations extrapolated from a seven point standard curve (0.04 to 20 pmoL). A total of 1464 samples were tested and longitudinal assessment of an additional 20 GD patients.
Results:
All patients with GD had elevated GluSph compared to unaffected controls and 16 other metabolic disorders. GluSph was also slightly elevated in three patients with Krabbe disease but not at concentrations to confuse a GD diagnosis. GluSph correlated with chitotriosidase in the majority of GD patients on treatment who were informative for this marker.
Conclusions:
GluSph can be easily measured from 0.01 mL of plasma and is useful as a diagnostic marker for GD with the current platform suited to high-throughput screening. It outperforms other GD biomarkers for biochemical monitoring of patients receiving enzyme replacement therapy for all individuals.
