In vitro effects of fat, FA, and cholesterol on sphingomyelin hydrolysis induced by rat intestinal alkaline sphingomyelinase.

Dietary sphingomyelin (SM) may have regulatory effects on cell proliferation and tumorigenesis in the colon. Alkaline sphingomyelinase (SMase) is the major enzyme responsible for hydrolysis of SM in the gut. Previously we purified the enzyme and showed that the presence of glycerophospholipids inhibited SM hydrolysis induced by alkaline SMase in vitro. In the present work, we studied the effects of TG, DG, FA, ceramide, and cholesterol on SM hydrolysis catalyzed by purified alkaline SMase. The results showed that both TG (triolein and tristearin) and DG (1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycerol and 1,2-distearoyl-rac-glycerol) inhibited the activity of alkaline SMase. 1-Monooleoyl-rac-glycerol, 1-monostearoyl-rac-glycerol, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, and arachidonic acid stimulated the activity of alkaline SMase at 0.4-0.8 mM concentrations but inhibited the enzyme at higher concentrations. There was no difference between the effects induced by saturated and unsaturated FA. A short-chain FA such as lauric acid had a stronger stimulatory effect at low concentrations and weaker inhibitory effect at high concentrations than long-chain FA. Choosing linoleic acid as an example, we found that FA had similar effects on both alkaline SMase and neutral SMase. Cholesterol and ceramide when mixed with FA to increase its solubility in bile salt micelles inhibited SMase activity. In conclusion, glycerides, FA, ceramide, and cholesterol influence SM hydrolysis catalyzed by intestinal alkaline SMase. The presence of lipids in the diet may thus influence the course of SM digestion in the gut and thereby the exposure of colon to SM metabolites.