Sulfatide is a type of sulfolipid that is found primarily in the central nervous system and is a myelin-specific sphingolipid. A deficiency of sulfatide in white and gray matter has been associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. Apoliprotein E plays an important regulating role in the metabolism of sulfatides.1 A production of anti-sulfatide antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid, leading to a deficiency in sulfatides, may be a cause of degeneration of the myelin sheath, leading to multiple sclerosis.2 Metachromatic leukodystrophy is an inherited disorder characterized by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme arylsulfatase A and the subsequent accumulation of sulfatide in neural and visceral tissues.3 An immunomodulatory role for sulfatides has been suggested in the pathogenesis of tuberculosis. Sulfatides decrease the in vitro production of proinflammatory cytokines. Tetracosenoyl sulfatide has been found to be a major immunodominant specie in myelin. This has important implications for the design of therapeutics that target T cells reactive for myelin glycolipids in autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system.4 Tetracosenoyl sulfatide has also been demonstrated to reverse ongoing chronic and relapsing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice.5
